Along with the project implemented locally, the special national relic Dong Duong Buddhist Institute (Binh Dinh Bac commune, Thang Binh) will have the Indian Archaeological Organization carry out conservation and reinforcement plans after receiving permission from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
In accordance with the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Governments of Vietnam and India in 2014, a delegation of experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) visited Quang Nam many times after completing the restoration of tower groups A, H, K in My Son (Duy Xuyen) to continue research and have a plan to preserve tower groups E, F in My Son and Dong Duong tower group (Thang Binh).
Spend 12 billion VND to reinforce Dong Duong
At the end of December 2023, the investment policy for the project to restore, reinforce, rehabilitate and promote the value of Sang Tower in the special national relic of Dong Duong Buddhist Institute was approved with a budget of 12 billion VND from the provincial budget.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet - Deputy Director of My Son Heritage Management Board said that My Son received conservation management of tower groups A, K, H from India from 2016 - 2022.
Up to now, the temple towers have been preserved and effectively promoted, attracting a large number of visitors.
In 2023, based on ASI's survey, realizing that tower group E needed to be preserved, the team of experts set up a project to restore tower group E and create landscapes in areas E and F.
Experts are considering embanking the stream in areas E and F to avoid future erosion and also recommending that My Son include tower A' in the next restoration project.
The project will conduct surveys, assess the current status as well as excavate, conduct archaeological research and carry out conservation interventions in the area around the foot of the tower.
From repairing against landslides, restoring details to dismantling the supporting iron frame, preventing termites, preserving and reinforcing the brick surface, and treating weeds that have invaded the original brick walls... will be carried out from now until the end of 2025.
Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery was formed and developed around the 9th-11th centuries. In the early 20th century, archaeological excavations by French scholars discovered a large Buddhist architectural complex, one of the most unique in Southeast Asia. In 2016, Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery was ranked as a special national monument by the Prime Minister .
In addition, many related artifacts of Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery relic are recognized as national treasures. This affirms the historical, cultural and artistic value of this relic in the flow of national history.
However, after excavations and research by French scholars in the early 20th century, until now there has been no truly complete, large-scale and comprehensive research on the Dong Duong Buddhist Institute relic.
Systematizing documents and comprehensively assessing the overall value of relics serves as a scientific basis for orienting and proposing appropriate solutions for the work of preserving and promoting values.
Previously, Quang Nam had invested in excavating some areas as well as carrying out the second emergency support of the Sang Tower gate. At the same time, the province assigned relevant agencies to develop a project to plan the archaeological and conservation restoration of the relic.
Collecting and systematizing documents related to relics not only helps the restoration and embellishment to be carried out with much scientific evidence, but also serves the needs of research and management.
Conservation Project from India
Mr. Er. Bhima Azmira - Director of Conservation ASI said that Dong Duong needs to be preserved and restored because of the special cultural values that the relic possesses.
“Along with cleaning the site, we realized the need to define the site’s boundaries. During our surveys, we found that vegetation covered much of the area, as well as some parts were encroached upon by residential structures, roads, and local activities,” said Er. Bhima Azmira.
In 2023, the ASI expert team visited twice to survey and make initial assessments of the current situation and orientation for the conservation and restoration of Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery.
Accordingly, ASI hopes to restore the architectural structure of the main gate and two side gates as well as conduct exploratory excavations of the relic. ASI also requested the Vietnamese side to provide all scientific data on Dong Duong to the Indian side so that experts can rely on the data to report a detailed project on Dong Duong.
Mr. Ho Xuan Ring - Deputy Director of Quang Nam Relic Management Center said that ASI needs to come up with a specific restoration solution for the E tower group in My Son. Dong Duong is a special national relic, so any activities related to the relic must have the opinion of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Therefore, ASI is required to report on the relic exploration plan as well as the restoration plan for Quang Nam to submit to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for comments.
At the meeting between ASI experts and the People's Committee of Quang Nam province, ASI said that this January, they will send the initial survey and restoration plan to Quang Nam to ask for the opinion of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Source
Comment (0)