My Son, an architectural complex on the coast of Vietnam, was the spiritual and political capital of the Cham people (the Champa Kingdom). The site consists of Hindu temple-towers built between the 4th and 13th centuries, though few pre-7th-century remains survive. The towers are built of bricks and held together by a vegetable-based cement. (...)
My Son, an architectural complex on the coast of Vietnam, was the spiritual and political capital of the Cham people (the Champa Kingdom). The site consists of Hindu temple-towers built between the 4th and 13th centuries, though few pre-7th-century remains survive. The towers are built of bricks and held together by a vegetable-based cement. It is believed that upon the completion of a tower, a vast kiln was built around the structure and lit to “fire” it, rendering it more stable.
French archaeologists working at the site in the early 20th century provided extensive and valuable documentation of the structures. The first western investigators at the site, they developed the lettering and number system that is still used to identify the temple-towers.
During the Vietnam War, My Son was used by the Vietcong as a field headquarters. This resulted in a US bombing raid in 1969 that destroyed the most important temple at the site and damaged several others. Today, 30 temples survive and are in various states of ruin due to the destabilizing effects of invasive biological growth and frequently flooding streams nearby.
More recently, international archaeological conservation teams have worked at the site to improve conditions and provide greater interpretation for visitors.
