It is a valley where is 70 km away from Danang City. Being different from Hoian busy town, My Son is quiet with the Cham towers scattered in the mountainous scenery.
From the national highway 1A, you have to go 30 km more to reach the vestige site. After parking, you are transferred to the main area of My Son, which is about 400m more. From then, you can walk to the main area of the site. It is believe that people have to walk along the God mountain side to enter the Cham tower site. It means that you have to go along the East-West direction or from sunrise to sunset or from yin to yang in the yinyang Asian belief. If so, you must start your trip from Que Son (Quế Sơn) district for My Son is at the other side of the mountain which belongs to Duy Xuyen (Duy Xuyên) district. However, visitors nowadays enter this place by the opposite way.
Right at the main entrance is located a board which shows us details of all tower groups. However, only group B, C and D still remain their original features. The others are mainly in My Son style A1. The tower named A1 is one of the tallest and most noticeable towers here.
Going around the site, you can also see the statue of Siva, The God saving all Kings of Cham era. Like other statues, Siva statue has no head. It is explained that they were ruined during the Vietnam war. However, some believes that when this place was occupied by Dai Viet (Đại Việt) people (old Viet people), they broke the statues' head for religious disagreement.
One of the most interesting points of Cham towers is the pictures or figures on the walls and the bricks. Cham people used a light and thin material to link the bricks together and sculpted on them as well.
Tower B5 and the base of tower B1 have great significance for the whole vestige site. Tower B5 has its roof in the shape of a very charming saddle and walls with many clever sculptures. Tower B1 is the last one built in My Son when kings of Champa moved to the South. This is also the only tower in Cham architecture which has the stone base. Inside the tower, you can see Linga-Yoni symbols representing for the yinyang religious belief which originally came from India and used to be honored in Cham culture.
If you go to My Son in moon seasons, you may find yourself mingled with the fantastic beauty of My Son as well as have a full and profound felling about this place. Besides, you can also find yourself peaceful and totally open-minded in the extremely quiet and calm mountainous atmosphere.
The founding history of My Son
My Son was the most sacred holy land of Hinduism in the Realm Champa (the former country lying at the south of Vietnam now; today is the Southern region of Vietnam) which was formed and existed in nine centuries, from the 4th to the 13th century. This is the only relic remained in the South-East Asia that has that long time of development and plays a very important role in the architectural legacies of the ethnic group Cham. In total, there are 71 relics in My Son Valley, divided into 13 groups.
In the 2nd century AD, Cham people established an independent country named Lam Ap. Till the end of the 4th century, King Bhadravarman I chose My Son Valley to be the place to build a temple worshipping the Saint Siva. The king selected this location because this area reached solemnity and has obstacles to get access to, according to the conception of Hinduism. The first temple was built in wood and had the name of Bhadresvara. Its symbol was a set of reproduction Linga - the oldest expression of the combination of royalty and theocracy in the South-East Asia area.
In the 6th century, about 529 - 577, unfortunately this temple was destroyed. King Sambhuvarman rebuilt it with refined bricks and added his name into the former name, making the temple Sambhubhadresvara. From that time, every new king decided to establish new tower temples in My Son area or restore the old ones that had been ruined by wars. Gradually My Son developed into the National Holy Land of the whole nation.
In 653 (the 7th century), King Prakasadharma came to the throne and attempted to build many temples and offered a great deal of land and property for the Deities.
In the 8th and 9th centuries, from 749 to 875, the holy land PoNagar in Nha Trang was venerated as the place worshipping the mother goddess of the nation. The holy land My Son thus was paid less attention. At the end of the 9th century, Buddhism which had been penetrated many centuries ago was considered as the National religion. In 875, revering Buddhism, King Indravarman II replaced the imperial capital in Quang Nam and built a Buddhistic Institute in Dong Duong which stayed 20 kilometres far from Tra Kieu. This was the third largest holy land of the Realm of Champa.
In the 10th century, Siva religion was rehabilitated. The holy land My Son was restored, the old tower temples were upgraded and a series of new holy lands were established. Hence, the holy land My Son only lost it important role in some decades in the late 9th century and the early 10th century.
In the 11th century, the war devastated the nation, holy lands and tower temples.
In the year 1149 of the 12th century, King Harivarman founded a new capital in Binh Dinh and repaired My Son Holy Land. The next king used jewelries laminated on the roofs of the tower temples. In 1170, a war between the Realm of Champa and neighbouring countries happened. Cham people lost their sovereignty many times. In 1190, Khmer people in Cambodia attacked and occupied Champa as revenge. Until 1220, the independence of the country was regained.
In the 13th century, the tower temples were repaired and worshipped but people did not build any more temples. The realm of Champa was on a recession.
In 1470 (the 15th century), Champa's existence was actually put to an end. The holy land turned deserted. Champa's kings came to Phan Rang and established a capital named Pandurang there.
In the 19th century, after 300 years of oblivion, the holy land My Son was discovered by M.C. Paris (a French person) in 1898.
In the 20th century, in 1969, American soldiers bombarded the area of tower temples. After the liberation of Vietnam country, until the 80s, My Son could not get any attentions. From 1981 until now, embellishing activities have been carried out.
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