Location: Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, Da Nang, Vietnam
Hoi An is situated close to the city of Da Nang, home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary. Pronounced ‘May Sun’ (at least the way I understood it to be pronounced), it is a grouping of Hindu temples constructed by the kings of Champa who ruled the region between the 4th and 14th century. The temples were partially ruined during the Vietnam War and although restoration work is underway, many have been reduced to piles of stones. Bomb craters are visible throughout the site as well, further evidence of the destruction of war. On my tour, the guide went to great lengths to point out every crater as proof of the American’s disregard for the sacredness of the site. Only at the end, did he explain that the reason the American’s bombed this holy site was that the Viet Con had established a military base in the sanctuary…
My Son means ‘beautiful mountain’ in Vietnamese, and indeed, it’s quite a site! Located in the jungle, the site was lost for many centuries until it was rediscovered by the French in the early 20th century. The site was never inhabited; it was used as a burial ground for the royal family of Champa as well as the site of temples dedicated to the worship of the Hindu god Shiva.
Beautiful Mountain
The Vietnamese like to refer to My Son Sanctuary as the “Angkor Wat” of Vietnam. The first temples here were built centuries before the Cambodian wonder although both are hindu temples, with some built around the same century.
