Comments on the Planning Document for the preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of the special national relic of Doi Son Pagoda

Accordingly, upon receiving Document No. 1713/TTr-UBND of the People's Committee of Ha Nam province on the request for appraisal and approval of the Planning for preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of the special national relic Doi Son Pagoda, Duy Tien town, Ha Nam province, after studying the relevant documents, collecting comments from members and the conclusion of the Chairman of the Planning Appraisal Council, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the People's Committee of Ha Nam province to direct the Investor and relevant functional agencies to edit and supplement the Planning documents.

Doi Son Pagoda (Long Doi Son Pagoda)

In particular, the viewpoint, objectives and orientation of the Planning still closely follow the content of Decision No. 55/QD-TTg dated April 7, 2023 of the Prime Minister on approving the Planning Task. The general idea is to preserve the core values ​​of the relic (in terms of landscape space, surrounding ecological environment; values ​​of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, documentary heritage, relics, antiquities, national treasures, archaeological artifacts, festivals associated with the relic; the role and relationship of Doi Son Pagoda (Long Doi Son Pagoda) with other relics, works, and tourist destinations of Ha Nam province and neighboring areas to connect and develop tourism...).

Accordingly, it is necessary to determine the viewpoint and importance of the Planning for the conservation of relics, limit the addition of new works, implement component project groups, in which, prioritize the activities of preserving, repairing, and restoring component relics and supplement the orientation to continue research, exploration, and archaeological excavation to serve the purpose of supplementing relic records, consolidating the scientific basis for activities of protecting and promoting the value of relics.

In protection zone I, the original state is maintained; if there is construction, there must be a scientific basis; in protection zone II, constructions must be built to promote the value of the relic; the main constructions must be kept intact, and auxiliary constructions must be in harmony with the main constructions.

For component project groups, in addition to prioritizing projects on conservation, restoration of relics, and landscape embellishment, it is necessary to add archaeological exploration and excavation projects as well as focus on architectural renovation projects for residential areas according to the Construction Management Regulations (on density, height, architectural form, use of details and colors, etc.) issued with the Planning.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposes to minimize the relocation and clearance of existing residential areas. Supplement and orient the digitalization of relics to contribute to preserving and promoting the value of relics; at the same time, it is necessary to clearly state solutions for zoning and protecting, promoting the value of relics associated with stabilizing the lives of households around the relics; handle relic land overlapping with national defense land, make full statistics, clearly identify the origin of each type of land...; supplement the order of priority, implementation roadmap, clearly identify and standardize information on capital sources for implementing component project groups; consider the impact of installing elevators and glass bridges in protection area II of the relics; consider not building a Buddhist Museum, Maitreya statue; calculate the construction of Sung Thien Dien Linh tower in another location that is not attached to Doi Son mountain and pagoda; the path needs to follow the terrain, not create a straight axis, avoid leveling; the exploitation works of enterprises need to be pushed away from the relics.

Regarding some other contents of the Planning, it is recommended that the Provincial People's Committee pay attention to carefully assessing the current situation to choose solutions to restore trees and grass in the Planning area; it is necessary to propose areas for planned archaeological exploration and excavation to have a basis for proposing locations and scale of construction works to promote the value of relics.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/gop-y-ho-so-quy-hoach-bao-quan-tu-bo-phuc-hoi-di-tich-quoc-gia-dac-biet-chua-doi-son-2025051310231064.htm