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My Son

My Son
My Son Sanctuary was the religious centre for the capital of the Champa Kingdom. The majority of it was built in the 10th century. It lies in a valley surrounded by mountains.

The site is an illustration of the Champa Kingdom, an important phase in the political and cultural history of South-East Asia. Started as an independent state in 192, Champa came under influence of the Hindu religion. Hindu architecture was introduced from the Indian subcontinent, and many temples to Hindu divinities were built. From the 13th century the kingdom declined and it ceased to exist in the 15th century.

The inclusion of this site is complementary to Angkor, Pagan and Sukhothai.

Year Decision Comments
1999 Inscribed Reasons for inscription



Visit March 2011

My Son's strong points are its remarkable history and its jungle setting. I visited it on the back of a moto from Hoi An, an hour's drive away. During the day busloads of tourists are dropped off here, probably overcrowding the site as it is pretty small.

I arrived at 8.45 a.m., when there were maybe 10 other people around. To get to the site, you have to walk on a path through the jungle for the last couple of hundred meters - a real pleasure in itself, finding something so wild in heavily populated Vietnam. I heard many birds, saw wonderful butterflies and hummingbirds.

The temples are really ruins, only at the first part of the complex (groups B and C) they are standing upright though also heavily damaged. The damage comes from bombing during the Vietnam War (you can still see the craters), but also from age. Most of the interior decorations and sculptures have been taken from here to the Champa museum in Da Nang. Only a couple of them are on show now here, at temples D1 and D2. From these sparse remains one can only guess how they might have looked like in their heydays.

Because of the damage and I think also because of the use of brick, the temples look pretty crude. Most of the outerlying temples are even worse off: they are overgrown or blown up into bits and pieces.

More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery

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Reviews

Ian (USA):
Pretty neat place to visit. We rented a motorbike from Hoi An and make the trip out. It was great to be on a bike and not on a bus. The ruins are impressive although we didn't have enough time to see them all. I would recommend the trip, even just to ride through the more rural parts of the countryside outside Hoi An. Some photos of the ruins here - mackieimages.smugmug.com/photos/604451102_RAzoT-M.jpg. Browse through the gallery to see more.
Date posted: August 2009
Nguyen Thi Lan (Vietnam):
The children who I took to Myson had helped me to prepare a book named "Myson- World Heritage In Young Hands To Know Cherish and Act". They contribute with interesting ideas, nice poems and wonderful drawings on My Son. Thanks to Funding support from Global Heritage Fund, the book was published, given free and warmly welcomed by school children. We are searching more support to republish as the first publishment was only in small number, 1500 copies.
Date posted: November 2005
Tine Saint-Ghislain (Belgium):
We visited the Cham ruins in My Son in September 2005. The site is very well maintained and work is still in progress to restaur and improve the ruins. The ruins might not be as big as the ones in Angkor, but they certainly have an equal amount of historical value. I would recommend to everyone to visit the site when they go to Vietnam.
Date posted: October 2005
Philip T.K. (Canada):
I went to My Son sometime in July 2004. It was a day trip from Hue. I found the site quite fascinating even after it was bombed during the Vietnam war. I was transported with an old American jeep from the entrance to a kilometre away from the site where I walked the remaining distance.
 
Nguyen Thi Lan (Vietnam):
Dear Friend,

For further progress of the Education and Outreach Program on Myson World Heritage Conservation for young children please visit: http://mysonvietnam.topcities.com Thanks.

Nguyen Thi Lan
K333/14 Hai phong Street, Danang, vietnam
Tel/Fax: 84.511.834318 Email: lanhqt@dng.vnn.vn
 
Nguyen Thi Lan (Vietnam):
Dear Friend,
For further progress of the Education and Oureach Program on My Son World Heritage myson to young children please view
http://mysonvietnam.topcities.com Thank you.
 
Nguyen Thi Lan (Vietnam):
As a freelance tourguide I have brought tourists to Myson many times and always with great admiration for the beautiful mountains, interesting ancient temples and mysterious things about Champa culture and art.

On 17th June 2004, I took a special group consisting of 20 little kids aged 6 t0 12. This special tour was funded by the Global Heritage Fund, to create an opportunity for the children to enjoy out door activities, to learn about Myson Sanctury history, to understand Champa culture and above all to inspire them with love, pride and care for this special world heritage in their home country.

The children greatly enjoyed watching Cham temples, listening to stories, drawing interesting pictures of the site. In the afternoon they came back to Danang to see the Champa Museum, where hundreds of Champa statues and scuptures are carefully kept.

What a great day for the children. They sent me interesting essays of their feelings towards Myson Sanctuary, Cham temples, statues, stories about Gods etc. "When can we have another trip to Myson?" the children asked. They really love this precious treasure of Vietnam.

Recorded by Nguyen Thi Lan,
K333/14 Hai Phong Street, Danang City, Vietnam.
Email: lanhqt@dng.vnn.vn
 


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