If one thought that the Chinese shaped Vietnam until the French moved in, My (pronounced me) Son is the evidence that there was Indian influence as well. The kingdom of Champa flourished from the 2nd to the 15th century; the remains of the kingdom are mainly found at My Son. At its pinnacle, Champa controlled the entire central coast of what would later become Vietnam. The Chams, Hinduised through their trading contacts with India, functioned as a so-called confederation of five states that were named after regions of India. One in particular is Amaravati (Quang Nam).
At the beginning of the 10th century Champa was under military and political pressure, and lost ground during each decade moving forward. By the late 1400’s, Champa was essentially a “broken” country. It wasn’t until the 1800’s under the reign of Minh Mang, that the Vietnamese were victorious in taking the area as well as the southern Cambodian areas of the Mekong Delta and Prey Nokor (later named Saigon).
Although Champa disappeared, the Cham people did not. While the kingdom was enveloped by the Vietnamese, some of the Cham remained in their former homeland and others fled to neighboring Cambodia. Today, the “Eastern Cham” are divided between the Mekong Delta in the south and the central coast. They are Muslim and Hindu respectively. The “Western Cham” in Cambodia adopted Islam centuries ago. The legacy of the Champa, both religious and artistic, has survived in this area.
The ancient Cham ruins at My Son provide a journey back in time. The rust colored ruins covered in a leafy sea of myrtle and green vegetation are all that remain of the religious capital of Amaravati, the greatest of the Cham states. Built in the 4th century, the Kingdom remained fully occupied for 1000 years. This makes it the longest occupied of all the major monuments of Southeast Asia. The backdrop of Cat’s Tooth Mountain (God Mountain) was planned. It served as a religious and intellectual center where Champa kings were crowned and buried.
The Cham worshipped a dual cosmology, honoring both male and female deities.
My Son represented the male God king – evidenced by the sacred Cat’s Tooth Mountain and Bhadresvarain ( Bhad abbreviated for king; esvara abbreviated for Lord Shiva). My Son was the creation of its own cosmos: Cat’s Tooth Mountain, an earthly linga, as the symbolic link between heaven and earth and a nearby river representing female fertility.
The temples of the Champa follow one basic design. They represent the Hindu abode of God and face the rising sun in the east; there is normally a Shivalinga at the center of the sanctum sanctorum; and they are usually three stories high and were a simple interior.
The ornaments were attached after construction and then “fired” from the heat of a wood fire that burned around the structure for days. The outer walls of brick and sandstone were carved with amazing detail after construction.
During the height of the Champa kingdom, only a handful of attendants would have lived at My Son. When we arrived at the ruins, we were early enough to enjoy the solitude and beauty. It was easy to imagine these ancient structures decorated with colorful flags and energized with the humming of the monks’ incantations. You can feel the mysticism of the Gods of a bygone era.
Sadly, the last vestiges of the Champa Kingdom are in a significant state of disrepair.
The temples sustained major damage during the American War. The Viet Cong used My Son as a key base, which forced US bombing of the site leaving about 20 of the original 70 structures intact. Bomb craters next to some of the temples are clearly visible. A major restoration project is underway. There is one riddle regarding the construction of the buildings that hasn’t been solved. How were the Chams able to build brick structures without cement or glue?The site is often compared with some of the other great Indian influenced archaeological sites of SE Asia including Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Ayuthaya in Thailand. Apparently not as grand as what you would find in either of these countries, it is a major contribution to Vietnam's history. In 1999 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Caroline, Jenny’s French friend from her high school days as an exchange student in France, has spent quite a bit of time in Viet Nam over the past ten years. She has raised money for schools in rural villages.
A building project was currently underway and we all wanted to see the school and children. It was off the beaten path, to say the least, but well worth the detour.
We were warmly greeted and the children loved having their pictures taken.
The new addition would more than double the size of the current schoolhouse. Noontime dismissal was interesting, as bikes seem to me the major mode of transportation.
And the bikes were loaded!
The drive to Hue, our ultimate destination, is said to be the most scenic in all of Vietnam. The road, of course, is narrow and climbs at a steep grade along the coast. The 12 mile drive (just a bit different from the one in Newport, RI) was complete with switchbacks, hairpin turns, waterfalls and dense vegetation on the mountainside and breathtaking views of the bowl-shaped Bay of DaNang on the other. Amid the beauty of this vista, ironically, is a leper colony.
We climbed through many curves for close to an hour. Although a bit hazy at the crest of the Hai Van Pass, we lucked out with the weather. Hai Van means "Sea Clouds”, but the clouds would not ruin our day! It was a Kodak moment we couldn’t resist.
Let me go back to the title of the blog –“ Going to Heaven – Really?” As often as our guide Phung mentioned our route for the day, I always heard “heaven”, which at many points made sense, knowing that the road climbed to an elevation of over 1200 feet. It was only after doing a map check enroute, that I realized we would go through the Hai Van (not Heaven) Pass. Duh… So to answer that question – No, not really heaven, but glorious nonetheless!
Although not able to capture the “big picture” in my “snaps” the wide-angle view from the crest of the pass, captures both North and South Vietnam. Hai Van pass forms an imaginary boundary between the two.
There are remnants of the fortifications built by the French and later used by the South Vietnamese and the Americans. We had to stop here. Out of nowhere came a small group of souvenir sellers. One of the women was close on Jenny’s heels as she climbed this rock.
She was the most aggressive (still talking to us as the van door was closing on her basket) we encountered during the whole trip.
It was all downhill from here. The hairpin turns seemed sharper, but the valleys, rice fields and lagoons were beautiful to see.
We stopped for lunch at the village of Lang Co. The restaurant sits on a peninsula, which separates a shallow lagoon from the sea.
Dining on the porch, we indulged in what felt like a decadent lunch of grilled calamari and tamarind crab (which is much too much work for me).
Our server facilitated getting the crab meat out!
The remainder of the drive had small hills but more magnificent vistas. It was hard not to stop but there were only so many Kodak moment pit stops to make. As we got closer to Hue, the panoramic vistas gave way to the hustle and bustle of the city. It was wonderful to savor the beauty of this day.
And the adventure continues in Hue…
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