Pearl from the deep forest

Group C, My Son relic. Photo: My Son Management Board documents

Hide in the deep forest

A group of French soldiers accidentally discovered the abandoned temples in the middle of the valley in 1885. Afterwards, experts from the French School of the Far East (EFEO) spent many rounds of research, archaeology and restoration.

In the first days of arriving in the dense, wild mountain valley, the experts and local people worked in conditions with no roads, no electricity and the most terrifying threat was "Mr. Tiger".

In his memoirs, Henri Parmentier recounted that “I arrived at My Son in 1901, I abandoned all palanquins and stretchers and walked for an hour in front of the beautiful scenery of the trail. On March 10, 1903, I returned to My Son to begin the excavation campaign.

It took two weeks to set up camp after a land reclamation process. A 4m high fence had to be built around the workhouse, with guards to protect us from Mr. Tiger lurking at night. Last night, Mr. Tiger took away a local worker.”

The first excavation campaign was from March 1903 to February 1904. This was followed by restorations in 1927-1928 and from 1936 to 1939.

Architect Mara Landoni and workers are renovating G1 temple. Photo courtesy of My Son Management Board

Hundreds of local workers were mobilized for excavation. The elders in Thu Bon Tay village, Duy Tan commune still remember clearly: “Year of the Rat, year of the Ox, year of the Tiger/ The French Department worked all three years”.

The years of Rat, Ox, and Tiger are the three years from 1936, 1937, and 1938 - the consecutive years that the French School of the Far East renovated the My Son Museum.

The early days were difficult and dangerous, but for Henri Parmentier, My Son had a strong attraction. He called Nui Chua “the Beautiful Mountain” “Belle montagne”, “a wonderful and important landscape that in itself represents and summarizes a period in the history of Cham art and religion”.

The documents that the French School of the Far East created and left to this day are a very valuable archive and show the enormous amount of work that French scholars have done at My Son.

Thousands of black and white photographs and drawings were made. Research books and articles on the architecture and sculpture of the My Son temple complex were published. Documents and images published domestically and internationally brought My Son to the world, which was previously unknown.

Salvation after the war

If the EFEO's phase is discovery and publication, Polish and Vietnamese experts have the task of saving relics after the war.

Locals are familiar with the image of a white-bearded Westerner, whom Quang people often call Kazik, always absorbed in writing and drawing in the relic site. Kazik was fascinated by My Son with the towers under the quiet moonlight, or the sunset through the valley.

Late Architect Kazik. Photo courtesy of My Son Management Board

Kazik's words about My Son contain the love and talent of an architect with a lot of experience in My Son: "The ancient Champa people put their spirituality into the soil and rocks and knew how to rely on nature to create a solemn, magnificent, and majestic My Son. This is a priceless museum of architectural art of humanity, which it will take us a long time to fully understand."

Two years after Kazik died while restoring Hue monuments, My Son was listed as a world heritage site in 1999.

Later, although only excavating and restoring a small group of G temples, Italian, UNESCO and Vietnamese experts also made historic achievements in the restoration of Champa relics.

Compatible materials, modern technology methods and applications, multidisciplinary research and human resource training are the first strong and exemplary steps in the restoration of Champa relics. Experts approached Group G with comprehensive research, in which a great deal of attention was paid to materials.

Inheriting techniques, materials and labor is a favorable basis for implementing the Vietnam - India cooperation project. Basically, the project has inherited restoration techniques and materials from the G project.

Another important legacy is the team of skilled technicians and workers who have been trained and practiced with extensive experience.

Scientific steps in conservation according to international standards have laid an important foundation in the conservation of brick relics in My Son.

The project ended but left behind international standards of guidance and experience in the conservation of Champa relics. The results of the project were applied not only at My Son but also at Champa relics in Central Vietnam.

The project has made My Son a model of conservation and training towards a more professional and long-term conservation.

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The international community pays attention to My Son because of its value as a Hindu center with a long, continuous and very unique history in Southeast Asia.

The internationalization in the conservation of My Son relics since the beginning of the 20th century has contributed to preserving the original value and bringing the image of My Son to the international community.

If My Son is likened to a pearl, then conservation activities have gradually lifted the veil that has covered it for nearly 5 centuries and "polished" the precious pearl to shine brighter from the deep, wild forests of My Son valley.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/vien-ngoc-tu-rung-sau-3150249.html