Visit to My Son Sanctuary, Champa ruins near Hoi An and Da Nang

29 September 2017

I thought a visit to Hoi An would not be complete without a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage cultural site of Mỹ Sơn. My Son Sanctuary was once the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom who ruled Central Vietnam from 4^th to 15^th century. 

The complex would have comprised about 70 structures (mainly Hindu temples and towers) built by Cham Kings for the worship of Hindu gods, in particular Shiva, and also to commemorate important events during their reigns. Although it is smaller in scale compared to the world famous Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia, the My Son temple complex would be interesting for me since I had not been to Angkor Wat.

The Champa people were masters in the art of building with bricks. Many buildings were built using bricks that were laid so close together and secured without use of mortar. The buildings in their heydays would include fine sculptures and carvings on the brickworks and stones, with images of gods, deities, priests, dances, plants, animals and sacrifices.

However, many were destroyed and many others were badly damaged by bombings during Vietnam War. So, only about 20 structures were left, some partially and painstakingly restored over the last 17 years.

This UNESCO World Heritage site is a popular tourist destination for visitors to Da Nang and Hoi An. It is located 40 km southwest of Hoi An and 70 km southwest of downtown Da Nang. A visit can be done as a short side trip from either place.

We went early in the morning when it is much cooler and there would be less people at the site. We signed up for the Sunrise My Son Tour with Tommy Dao Tours.

We were picked up promptly from our hotel at 5 AM in the morning by our guide Ken and a driver.  Ken is 71 years old. A Vietnam War veteran who fought alongside the US troops against the Viet Cong, he survived many years of hardship in prison after the war and had plenty of war stories to share with us as we travelled in the dark towards My Son.

Although the name of the tour is called My Son Sunrise Tour, we were not expecting to see any sunrise at the My Son site since the site opens at 6 AM. By then, the sun would already be up.

The only little sunrise we saw was on our way to My Son, from our air-conditioned van.

“Sun-rise” as seen on our way to My Son.

This day was the 10th day of the lunar month and we could see cloud formations in the east. According to local wisdom from our guide, Ken, 2 big peaks and 2 small peaks in the cloud formation means there would be 2 big floods and 2 small floods in Hoi An later this year. Hoi An is known for the yearly floods during the months of October and November. So, his prophecy may come true.

After note: There was indeed floods in Hoi An later in 2017. But I am not sure if it was 2 big and 2 small floods. 

We arrived at My Son at 6 AM, just in time for the opening. In addition to our group, there was only one other small group waiting to enter the site.

Entrance fee to My Son cost 150,000 VND per person and was included in the cost of our tour. The fees include tram rides from the entrance to the actual site of the ruins, about 2 km from the entrance.

Early morning is the best time to visit My Son.

We took the first tram to the site and I was glad we came in the early morning. The place was practically empty of people. There was a stray dog who was pleased to see us and accompanied us for a short while. Mist was still on the ground and it added to the overall atmosphere of visiting an ancient ruin site.

Map showing the layout of the My Son site.

Overall, the structures in My Son were clustered in small groups, simply named using the English alphabets. A short walk from the tram stop is needed to get to the first cluster of buildings. Ken reminded us to stay on the well-trodden path and not stray too far into the undergrowth as there may be still stray landmines.

It is easy to remember that this was once a war zone during the Vietnam War. Craters created by the huge aerial bombs could be seen, in addition to destroyed and damaged ancient buildings. My Son was used as a base by the North Vietnamese fighting against the South Vietnamese and US forces. Hence, it suffered a lot of bombings during the war.

Bomb craters on the left and right of a destroyed structure.

Ken brought us to the first clusters, Group B, C and D. He walked at a brisk pace, despite his age, and we had to struggle a little to keep up!

First glimpse of the My Son ruins.

Our guide Ken, a stray dog and us at the site. The deep impression on the ground next to Ken is a bomb crater.

Ken told us about the construction technique used by the builders. Bricks were laid closely and held together without the use of mortar.

To this day, archaeologists were still unsure how the bricks were fused together. One theory was after bricks were laid, fire was used to burn the bricks to fuse them together. However, the presence of limestone door frame near the walls debunks that theory since the limestone cannot withstand fire.

Visits to ancient sites and ruins almost always invoke the feelings of awe and mystery in me. I get similar feelings when I visited ancient sites like Stonehenge in England (see post of my Stonehenge visit here).

Who are the people who built these structures?

What were they used for?

Why invest so much effort and resources and what was their significance to their lives?

Apparently, most of the structures were used for Hindu religious worship.  There are figures and symbols of Hindu gods and goddesses e.g. Shiva, Shakti, Krishna, Vishnu, most of which I am not familiar with.

Ken led us into some of the structures and provided details about the Hindu religious practices of the Champa people.

Left: A temple at My Son. Right: Inside the temple. Part of a yoni stone could be seen in the foreground. In Sanskrit, yoni means vulva, source or origin.

Sanskrit writing on a stele.

Ken showed us a linga stone, on top of a yoni. The yoni is the creative power of nature and represents the goddess Shakti. The lingam stone represents Shiva, and is usually placed on the yoni.

The linga and yoni stones. It is believed that if you rub the top of the linga stone, your wish would come true. The top of this linga stone is smooth from many such rubs.

Another fertility stone.

It was good to see that restoration works are being carried out on some of the ancient buildings still standing.

I wonder how this pile of rubble is going to be restored. Challenging indeed.

More fertility symbols around an altar.

One of the partially restored temple.

Entering one of the partially restored temple.

Inside view of one of the towers.

A mix of old and newly restored (lighter coloured) bricks on a restored building.

We spent slightly over an hour exploring the ruins before taking the tram back to the entrance. There is a small museum near the entrance which was worth a visit before travelling back to Hoi An.

On the hour long journey back to Hoi An, Ken continued his stories about his experiences during and after the Vietnam War. We arrived back to Tea Garden Homestay, our hotel in Hoi An, at about 9 AM. Since we missed the breakfast provided by our hotel, we took a short walk to Madam Khanh, the Banh Mi Queen to try one of the best banh mi in town. 

For me who had not been to the famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, I find the few hours spent visiting the My Son ruins quite interesting and worthwhile.