My Son

Situated seventy kilometers of Da Nang city, My Son was an imperial city of Cham dynasty between the 4th and 12th centuries. My Son comprises of more than seventy ancient architectural works which include temples and towers that connect to each other with complicated red brick designs.

As indicated by the records on the stele, the first establishment of My Son was a wooden temple to worship the Siva Bhadreswar genie. But in the 16th century, it was destroyed by a big fire.

Thanks to the scientists, the historical mysterious of My Son were unveiled. Based on the researches of records on the stele, they proved that My Son was the most important Holy Land of the Cham dynasty from the 4th to the 15th century.

The main temple of My Son site was built to worship the Linga-Yoni genie who represents the capability of creation. Adjacent to the main tower are more than a few sub-towers worshiping Genies or deceased Kings.

Each historical age has its own identity so that each temple in My Son site was built to worship a genie or a king of a different dynasty has it own style with full of various sense. Even though, all the Cham towers were built based on a quadrate foundation and each composes of parts with its own meaning. The solid tower base represents the world of human beings; the mysterious and sacred tower body represents the world of spirits; and the tower built in the shape of a man offering flowers and fruits or of trees, birds etc. represents things which are closed to the spirits and human beings.

Even though there are some factors such as time and the wars have destroyed some parts of towers, the remaining sculptural and architectural still reflects the style and history of the Cham people. My Son masterpiece mark a splendid time for the architecture and culture of the Cham as well as of Southeast Asia.