Da Nang's Museum of Cham Sculpture is on the west bank of the Han River. (Photo: VNA) The museum said the recognition show the local government's high appreciationof the value of the most visited site in the tourism hub, featuring a uniquedisplay of typical sculpture and artworks of Cham culture from the 5th to 15thcentury.
The museum, situated on the west bank of the Hàn River, was builtin late 1915 with a big contribution from Henri Parmentier, a prominentarchaeologist with the L’Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Orient (the Far EastArchaeological Research Institute) in Hanoi.
In mid-1919, he published the first catalogue of the museum,marking its inaugural ceremony.
It also features the history of Cham towers, artefacts and French(20th century) architecture along with the development of Da Nang city.
The museum still preserves and display thousands of artefacts andsandstone statues found at many Cham towers and excavations from the Sa HuynhCulture (between 2,500 and 3,000 years old) in the central region.
Many ceramic fragments, sandstones and bricks that were excavatedat the 1,000-year-old Cham tower site in Da Nang are on display at the museum.
Six national treasures have been preserved and kept at the museumfor public display including the Tra Kieu Pedestal; the My Son E1 Pedestal;statue of Tara/Avalokiteshvara; the Dong Duong Pedestal, and two sandstonestatues – Ganesha and Gajasimha.
Ganesha, one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in theHindu pantheon, is readily identified by his elephant head. He is widelyrevered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles; the patron of arts andsciences; and the deva of intellect and wisdom.
The statue of Ganesha was excavated in 1903 at E5 tower of the MySon Sanctuary in Quang Nam province by a group of French archaeologists. It hasbeen stored by the museum since 1918.
Gajasimha is a mythical hybrid animal in Hindu mythology,appearing as a sinha or rajasiha (mythical lion) with the head or trunk of an elephant.It was found at the Mam tower in Binh Dinh province in 1933-34, and displayedat the museum from 1935.
The museum offers an audio guide for tourists in 14 languages via smartphones,and a 3D experience in the four main rooms – Tra Kieu, My Son, Dong Duong and Mamtower.
All artefacts and exhibits were scanned to allow visitors toexplore the museum in Vietnamese and English.
The museum and the Southeast Asian Art Academic Programme, Schoolof Oriental and African Studies, University of London, launched theEnglish-language book titled Vibrancy in Stone – Masterpieces of the Da Nang Museumof Cham Sculpture, providing a collection of high-quality photographs highlightingthe museum’s attractions to mark its 100th anniversary.
The museum hosts around 200,000 visitors annually.
Da Nang city also recognised Cham towers found at Phong Le villagein the list of the city’s cultural relics.
The Champa Kingdom ruled in the central coastal region between the4th and 13th centuries.
The city has 50 historical sites and 18 national historicalmonuments that were included in the city’s restoration project 2016-20.
Last year, the MaNhai (Inscriptions) collection in ancient Nom and Han Chinesecharacters (76 steles in Chinese and two in Nom), carved on cliffs and caves atthe famous Marble Mountains in Ngu Hanh Son district of Da Nang, was recognisedas part of the documentary heritage of Asia and the Pacific at the 9th generalmeeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP).
It’s also the first UNESCO-recognised world heritage of Da Nang./.
VNA
