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UNIQUE RELICS EXCAVATED FROM CHAM TEMPLE IN CENTRAL VIETNAM
Updated: 02-08-2008
Archeologists have made astounding discoveries after excavating a ninth century Cham monastery in a central province.
The scientists said the architectural objects found at the Champa construction site showed similarities to images depicted in the Sanskrit Ramayana, an ancient Hindu epic which was adapted by many Southeast Asian cultures.
The objects were found during a four-month project to explore and preserve three principal temples (or kalan in the Cham language) of the Khuong My Tower in Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh District.
Part of a program to research Champa culture, the excavation work was launched early last July by the Quang Nam Center for Relic and Heritage Preservation, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Hanoi National University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
The excavation part of the project, to be carried out over four months, concentrated on an area of 4,300 square meters around the temples.
Funded by the Quang Nam People’s Committee, the VND7 billion (US$420,000) first stage focused on excavating, researching and preserving the temples, as well as discovering secrets of Champa culture.
First-found relics
By late July, at the end of the first stage of the excavation work, archeologists had discovered more than 120 objects.
From an area of more than 500 square meters of the complex, they found statues of humans, monkeys, birds, Naga snakes, horses and elephants.
On the basements of the temples, the archeologists found 17 blocks of sandstone with unique sculptural designs.
The designs depict groups of monkeys carrying luggage, crossing rivers, playing drums and dancing.
The gender of the monkeys can easily be identified in the designs.
It’s the first time monkey designs have been found at a Champa structure, an official from the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.
The objects and carvings found at the Khuong My Tower date back to the late ninth century and the beginning of the 10th century, he said.
The temple complex is built according to traditional Champa architecture, with square bases and three eastward facing kalans.
Each kalan has a similar three-story structure with a sandstone top.
Each kalan has one real and five false arch doors with leaf-image decorations.
According to Phillipe Stern, a French researcher of Champa culture, the decorations of plants with curved leaves is the first example of Champa architecture showing features of ancient Khmer art.
These decorations were common in Khmer architecture of the ninth and 10th centuries, he said.
Epic similarities
According to initial research, the monkey designs were related to the Indian Ramayana epic.
Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki.
It was the original story on which other versions were based, such as the Khmer Reamker, the Thai Ramakien, the Lao Phra Lak Phra Lam the Malay Hikayat Seri Rama and the Maranao Darengan.
The Ramayana (Rama’s journey) consists of 24,000 verses in seven books and tells the story of Rama, a prince from the city of Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala kingdom, which belonged to Suyvanash.
Rama’s wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana.
Traveling south to rescue his wife, Rama helps Sugriva, the king of a troupe of monkeys, reclaim his dynasty.
Sugriva then sends his general, Hanuman, to help Rama kill the demon king and get Sita back.
Source: Thanh Nien News
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