My Son Expanded
Mỹ Sơn Mở Rộng · My Son Sanctuary Expanded · Champa My Son Valley Expanded
Champa Indianized 4th–13th c CE (Mỹ Sơn Phase A–H)·Champa (Austronesian Indianized, Saiva-Brahmanical)·🇻🇳 Quảng Nam Province, Duy Xuyên District, Mỹ Sơn valley 40 km west of Hội An, Thu Bồn River mountain bowl, Vietnam
About
About My Son Expanded
Champa's Vatican expanded — Mỹ Sơn valley 2×2 km walled sanctuary with 70+ brick kalan sanctuaries groups A–H, expanded segment beyond Group A core to groups E–F hill spur and the 21st c-identified Thu Bồn dam–reservoir. 4th–13th c Cham Indianized state temple (Bhadresvara), 1903–04 Parmentier EFEO plan and Le–Zolese restorations. Mỹ Sơn A-1 kala (4th c earliest Cham inscription), B-group Mandapa, plus Sa Huynh Iron base jar-chamber under shrine A-E (?). UNESCO 949 since 1999; Mỹ Son Expanded adds the ecological Thu Bồn dam and Hon Den–Khe The mining settlement feeding Cham brick saran? craft.
Why it mattersExemplar Cham Indianized sanctuary-state valley and Sa Huynh→Cham stratigraphic bridge to Vijaya's successor Canh Tien.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 0170 sanctuaries — single atelier or successive Bhadravarman lineage?
- 02Thu Bồn dam — Champa irrigation or ritual basin?
Theories
- 01Mỹ Sơn as Champa state-temple Kulen of the Thu Bồn, antecedent to Angkor's hydraulic
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4th c CE A-1 earliest Cham; peak 7th–12th c
- Period
- Champa Indianized 4th–13th c CE (Mỹ Sơn Phase A–H)
- Culture
- Champa (Austronesian Indianized, Saiva-Brahmanical)
- Builders
- Champa kings Bhadravarman I onward (Indianized ruler cult)
- Purpose
- Mountain-bowl sanctuary-state of Thu Bồn River and brick-temple atelier (Cham kala) controlling Amaravati plain
- Abandoned
- c.1471 Lê conquest of Vijaya; 1945 VC–ARVN cratering and US bombing crater visible A1?
- Rediscovered
- 1898 Camille Paris; 1903 Parmentier EFEO giant 2×2 km survey; 1937–44 Stern stratigraphy
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.4th c CE
A-1 Bhadresvara linga and earliest Cham Sanskrit inscription (Vo Canh? My Son)
c.7th–12th c CE
70+ kalan groups A–H with mandapa, gopura and Hon Den ceramic atelier
1898–1904
Paris–Parmentier discover and plan My Son 70 sanctuaries valley
1999
UNESCO 949 listing; Hon Den–Thu Bồn ecological expanded zone mapped
On the ground
Structures & features
15.7700° N · 108.1200° E · 120 m · 2 mapped features
My Son Group A Central Sanctuary and Hon Den Atelier
templeGroup A central kalan 18 m with Hon Den ceramic atelier and Vo Canh-type Sanskrit inscription (valley north)
15.7703° N · 108.1203° EMy Son Thu Bon Reservoir and Valley Enclosure Wall
reservoirThu Bồn embankment dam 180 m and laterite valley enclosure wall linking groups E–H spur
15.7697° N · 108.1197° E
Gallery