On average, the site receives up to 1,500 visitors a day in the first months of this year, mostly from the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, the EU, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and China. (Photo: VNA) Quang Nam (VNA) – The UNESCO-recognised MySon Sanctuary in the central province of Quang Nam is striving to welcome 300,000visitors in 2023, according the management board of the heritage site.
On average, the site received up to 1,500 visitors aday in the first months of this year, mostly from the Republic of Korea, Japan,the US, the EU, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and China.
To better serve visitors, the board has been implementing severaldigital transformation projects to improve conservation efficiency and promoteheritage values, including digitising artefacts preserved at the site and themuseum.
Once the religious and political capital of the ChampaKingdom, MySon Sanctuary is located in a hilly landscape in Duy Phu commune, DuyXuyen district, about 70 km southwest of central Da Nang city and 40 km fromHoi An city.
The sanctuary was recognised as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in1999. It comprises eight groups of 71 monuments built throughout the 7th to13th century. Having their spiritual origin from Hinduism of the Indiansub-continent, My Son temples were built to the Hindu divinities such asKrishna and Vishnu, but above all Shiva.
The first construction of My Son dated back to the 4th century under the reignof Bhadravarman for the worship of God Shiva-Bhadresvara. But later on, thetemple was destroyed.
At the beginning of the 7th century, King Sambhuvarman had it rebuilt. Each new monarch came to My Son after his accession to thethrone for the ceremony of purification and to present offerings and erect newmonuments, which explains why My Son was the only place where Cham artflourished without interruption from the 7th to 13th century.
According to the UNESCO, conservation of the My Sonmonuments began in the early part of the 20th century soon after theirdiscovery in modern times by French archaeologists. As a result of wars, manytower temples were damaged. However, preservation work has been carried out andthe remaining tower temples have been maintained and are well-preserved./.
