Nearly 16.8 billion VND to restore the North and Middle towers of the Chien Dan Cham tower relic

VHO - The People's Committee of Quang Nam province has just decided to approve the project to preserve, restore, restore and promote the value of the North Tower and the Middle Tower of the national relic of Chien Dan Cham Tower (Tam An commune, Phu Ninh district) to restore and stabilize the structures of the relic in the long term; contributing to preserving and promoting the value of the relic.

Chien Dan Tower Cluster

The project has a total investment of nearly 16.8 billion VND, of which the construction cost is nearly 14.3 billion VND from the provincial budget, with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam as the investor. The specific scale of construction investment includes the following main items: Restoration and reinforcement of the site such as clearing the exposed ground and collecting artifacts around the base of the tower; dismantling reinforced masonry blocks with cement mortar, old bricks (previously), replacing rotten and broken bricks at slightly damaged locations on the surface of the base and walls of the tower.

Reinforce and reposition brick blocks of the tower base and walls; add lost or broken corner stones. Build additional steps and shoulders in the form of simulation with simple blocks, restored brick steps; restore and supplement collapsed, lost or unstable parts on the base and wall body.

Restore the shape of the compartments and decorations based on the remaining original components; reinforce wall cracks, drill anchors for the corner bricks of the tower roof. Reposition the stone pillars, thresholds and stone steps; restore the foundation inside the tower body, lay restored Cham bricks, and treat the entire brick surface. Dismantle the existing roof system and renew the roof on the top of the North tower with a box iron frame and tempered glass; protect the entire structure and related items from termites.

In addition, there are auxiliary items serving the relic restoration activities such as: Installation of scaffolding for construction; Electricity and water supply items, brick processing tanks and other auxiliary items serving the restoration. Previously, Van Hoa has repeatedly reported the serious deterioration and urgent need for conservation of the national relic of Cham Chien Dan tower.

Chien Dan Cham Towers were built around the beginning of the 12th century, under the patronage of the Harivarman V dynasty (1113 - 1139) with the function of worshiping the three supreme gods in Hinduism. The tower group consists of three worship tower structures (South tower, Middle tower and North tower) built in a straight line, the base of the tower has stone slabs with complete decorative sculptures. This architecture is only found on Banh It tower (Binh Dinh province) and Chien Dan tower.

Surveys by professional agencies show that the roof structures of the North and Middle towers have collapsed beyond recognition. Currently, the remaining roof floors of the towers are covered by many wild plants, some of which are quite large and threaten the brick structure of the tower. Based on the structure of the base and body of the tower, it is known that the tower has a multi-layered roof that gradually shrinks in size, similar to the traditional architecture of Champa worship towers.

On the structure of the tower body, there are still clear signs of reinforcement against deterioration carried out in the 90s. The entire base of the tower, including all four walls, has collapsed, leaving only traces of a few decorative stone blocks carved into the base of the tower in the shape of dancers. The base of the tower is made of uneven rammed earth, eroded by vegetation. The structure of the fake door on all four sides has been reinforced with additional brick blocks using the same solution.

The tower body is damaged on the surface, the decorative details are chipped and broken, leaving only traces. Many masonry blocks have been reinforced with bricks and cement mortar. The tower is eroded by plants. Inside the tower body is mossy and smoky, with traces of stone decorative details and decorative niches in the shape of bodhi leaves remaining. The structure of the second floor roof has also been severely damaged, the decorative blocks have all lost their surfaces, the bricks have lost their connection in many places, and are at risk of coming apart and collapsing.

The upper roof collapsed long ago. It is estimated that the height of the lost roof could be up to 4m. Because the roof was lost, the masonry that closed the dome at the top of the tower was also cut off…

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam also informed that for the Cham Chien Dan tower relic site (Phu Ninh district), in 2021, Quang Nam province approved the project to preserve, restore and promote the value of the South tower of the Cham Chien Dan tower with an investment scale of 5.48 billion VND, the project was assigned to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the investor and was completed by the end of 2023.

It is necessary to continue to invest synchronously in the North Tower and the Middle Tower of Chien Dan to remove damage for restoration, ensure the safety of the tower as well as preserve the remaining architectural and artistic values ​​of the tower.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/gan-168-ti-dong-tu-bo-thap-bac-thap-giua-di-tich-thap-cham-chien-dan-137086.html