Excursion Hoi An - Da Nang - Michon from Nha Trang with the Russian Information Center (day one). The ruins of My Son in Da Nang: the cultural heritage of the capital of the Tyampa Empire. Excursion cost, important clarification and general impression

Michonne (M? S?n) is an imposing temple complex, or rather, its picturesque ruins in the center of Vietnam. Michon is one of the few sights left from the Champa Empire, the temple was spiritual and cultural center from the 4th to the 12th century.

Each building in the Michon complex, despite its disastrous dilapidated state, retains the remnants of its former grandeur and beauty. Graceful architecture, intricate patterns on walls and ceilings, columns and stepped elevations - the temples look even more impressive and beautiful, because they are located in wild jungle. The combination of rough cut stone with untouched wildlife has always been strangely harmonious.

Interesting Facts

In 1999, Michon Temple was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Since the Champa culture was influenced by India, Michon is made in architectural style characteristic of this country.
Initially, the sanctuary consisted of 70 buildings, but today only 25 of them have survived.
French historians call Michon "Valley of the Royal Dynasty", as most of the towers were erected in honor of the Cham kings.
Each tower is symbolic: its base is the world of people, the tower is the world of spirits, and the lotus-shaped upper part is the connection between these two worlds.

How to get there

The ruins are located in the heart of Vietnam, so getting to them will not be easy.

Close to temple complex An Hoa domestic airport is located. You can fly from any resort for 30-40 minutes to Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam province and then get by taxi or rented motorbike to the sights. The trip will only take about 10 minutes.
Also, you can get on a rented vehicle from nearby coastal cities.
Most often, tourists visit Michon not on their own, but as part of a group tour. It is much more convenient, because you will be taken in a comfortable bus to the ruins, and the guide will tell you many interesting things. historical facts. But in Lately more and more travelers prefer to get to know the country on their own and apart from tourist groups.

Contacts

Address: Duy Ph?, Duy Xuy?n, Qu?ng Nam, Vietnam

White dunes - unique sands in tropical Vietnam The White Dunes are one of the incredible natural attractions of Vietnam. They are endless desert plains covered with milky white and pale yellow fine and clean sand.

The Cambodian shrine of Angkor Wat is known all over the world and tens of thousands of tourists annually come to Cambodia to visit the most famous and largest temple complex in the world.
But not everyone knows about the existence of another temple complex, which is equated in importance in the Hindu religion with the famous Angkor Wat. This is My Son - the temple complex of the Champa Empire, which is located in central Vietnam.
Unfortunately, the temples and towers of Michon, which stood for over 1000 years, were mercilessly destroyed by American bombing during Vietnam War in 1969. 50 out of 70 buildings. Almost completely.
No words...

2. The ruins of the My Son temple complex are located in the jungle of Quang Nam province, about 50 km southeast of Hoi An city.
Lost in the jungle for more than 4 centuries, Michon was accidentally discovered by a group of French archaeologists in 1885.
In 1999, Michon was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List and active research work and work on the arrangement of the complex for the possibility of visiting tourists.

3. Between the IV and XIII centuries. in this area of Vietnam has developed unique civilization, the spiritual foundations of which were closely connected with Hinduism.
Chams, or chams ̣ (cham - in Vietnamese, and the Russian pronunciation varies) were originally Hindus, worshiped Shiva and considered themselves followers of Shaivism, but after the 10th century something changed, and their religion became more like Islam. All their temples and relics found indicate that the Chams were Hindus, later buildings prove the presence of Islam in their life.
Michon was the capital of the Champa empire from the 4th to the 12th centuries.

4. How did Michon come about?
In the 5th century, the famous Cham king Bhadravakman I decided to find a quiet, secluded place in order to build a temple to praise the cult of Hindu deities. The temple complex of Mytho was built in a ravine between the mountains, not far from the village of the same name.

5. About 70 structures were erected - temples and towers dedicated to the gods Shiva and Vishnu, as well as royal tombs. Steles were installed in each tomb, on which were engraved the names, dates of life and achievements of kings and members of the royal court who had the merit of building this temple complex.
Subsequently, Michon also became a place of worship for the Cham royal dynasties.

6. The most famous tower, 24 meters high, was decorated with sculptures of lions and elephants. It was destroyed during the war in 1969 by American bombing. During these bombardments, 50 of the 70 temples described in the first half of the 20th century by archaeologists from French Institute Far East.

7. Michon was a religious shrine until the 13th century, then the state of Champa was completely destroyed by the modern Viet, only small groups remained that still live in the mountains of central and northern Vietnam. Accordingly, these temples were almost forgotten

8. According to some researchers, the Michon sanctuary was the spiritual center of the ancient Cham state, similar to what is now preserved in Cambodia - famous temples Angkor Wat. The local temples and towers are really very similar to Angkor Wat, and the images of Indian gods are clearly visible in the architecture.

9. There are quite a lot of images of gods, they are different, and some of them do not have faces

10. When looking closely at the figures, one gets the feeling that the faces were "extracted" from the walls, replacing them with "dummy"

11. However, this applies not only to absent persons

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14. Many tombs can now be accessed inside

15. Some of them managed to survive even after the American bombing, some were restored

16. There are no identical tombs here. Each one is different from the next.

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18. Now all the temple buildings of Michon are almost completely destroyed, only their foundations remain. The complex consists of several groups of temples, but only one of them has clear features. The towers are clearly guessed in it, and the buildings have been preserved almost in their original form.

19. During the Vietnam War, the US Air Force bombed them mercilessly, because. the American command had suggestions that the headquarters of the Vietnamese partisans was located in Michon.
Most of the surviving figures of dancers and Hindu gods were moved to the Cham Sculpture Museum in Da Nang.

20. Some figures can be seen not only in Da Nang, but also here in My Son.
Several former tombs are equipped in the exposition of figures and sculptures found on the territory of Michon

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24. A lot of different lingams have been preserved in this architecture, including the most important one, as a symbol of childbirth and worship of the god Shiva.
About lingams I am in a separate story

25. There are very few tourists in Michon, which made me incredibly happy as a photographer.
It rarely happens nowadays that you can easily take pictures in such ruins without crowds of people

26. main tower Michonne

27. In addition to the central group of temples, some towers overgrown with vegetation can be found at some distance

28. There are 6 such groups in total.

29. Indian ornaments on the remains of temple walls

30. What else is worth noting is that despite the fact that the site is under the protection of UNESCO, you can walk everywhere. you can touch everything. No fences, fences, prohibitions, etc.

31. It can be seen from some buildings that they were restored - fresh brick is noticeable along with the old masonry

32. But the natural and climatic factors in these parts will quickly do their job and in a dozen or two years the "updates" will become completely invisible

33. Tower after restoration

34. And this is how the Vietnamese restore the destroyed towers. Under a canopy, protecting from rain and wind, carefully and carefully...

The official partner is the company

The complex was built around the fourth century. At the end of the 20th century, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once upon a time, back in the period of its foundation, this place was the capital of Champa. The inhabitants of this large empire lived not only in the territory of the present ruins, but also far beyond them. The Chams came here from Java and Indonesia, and were the first people to bring Hinduism to Vietnam. A huge temple complex was erected by the Chams in honor of Shiva.

The name "Michon" is translated literally as " beautiful mountain". Everyone who has ever visited the temple was convinced of the appropriateness and full conformity of such a name. The ruins are surrounded by jungle and high mountain ranges. Even from the cracks in the walls of the once majestic building, numerous, sometimes amazing plants grow today.

Naturally, during construction, there were no cracks or chips. To increase the strength of the Chams, they used unique technologies that few people can use at present. The walls of the temple were built of brick, created during low temperatures, therefore, in its structure, it was soft. It was tightly stacked on top of each other, creating thick, strong walls. After the construction of the entire structure, it was burned with fire for a certain amount of time so that the material would hold together and become a single monolith. Surprisingly, bonding materials were never used in the construction.

The locals believed that Shiva knew about their desires, which he always fulfilled. As a rule, the Chams asked for an increase in the birth rate, as they thought that their strength was in numbers. This was due to the fact that the people came from afar and were not sure of their protection, for which more people were needed.

Protecting your territory has always been the overriding goal of the Chams. Many enemies gathered around the empire, among which were even the Chinese. In the 11th century, the Vietnamese nevertheless captured the territory of the Chams, moving them far to the south. However, Michon Temple was under their protection for several more centuries.

For many years, Michonne was hidden in the jungle from prying eyes, so very few people knew about his existence. The situation changed in 1889, when the French found the temple complex. By that time, almost ruins remained from it. However, French researchers immediately realized that they were dealing with an old holy place and soon came to grips with the restoration of the surviving buildings.

In 1969, the Vietnam War began, which brought to naught all the efforts of the restorers. It only took the bombers a week to level the sanctuary. However, some buildings managed to survive, and have survived to this day.

Michon architecture

The Michon complex consists of three areas suitable for tourist purposes. The first zone is represented by the fully preserved main temple, which consists of about ten small buildings. The buildings represent the stages of the development of the empire, the worship of Shiva. Today, this is the most impressive and interesting thing left of the temple.

The second zone suffered the most from the bombs, so there is nothing much to see there yet. In fact, scientists have not even begun to explore this place.

And finally, the third zone. This place is still being restored. But already now you can see the differences in the color, texture and age of the bricks. Compared to the first zone, this part is a modern temple building, made in the same way as during the construction of the Chams.

The history of mankind is such that, simultaneously with the discovery of new historical monuments, the destruction of similar ones takes place. Michon did not escape such a fate.

Tourists

There is a temple in Vietnam not far from another representative world heritage- Hoi An City. You can get here from the nearest town of Da Nang. Entrance to the territory will cost about 7 dollars.

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Seventy kilometers from Da Nang is the ancient temple complex My Son. This is the Hindu temple complex of the Champa Empire, ancient state, which existed on the territory of Vietnam in the VII - XVII centuries. Then the Viet took over. Actually, this is all I know about this state. All that remains of this once great principality is a ruined temple complex. I will tell you about the road to the complex at the end of the post, I will also give some tips there if you suddenly want to see this historical monument, which since 1999 has been included in the World historical heritage UNESCO.

Path leading from the parking lot to the complex.