Exploiting the value of Cham towers for tourism

Ancient towers that stand the test of time

Coming to the southern region of the province, besides the rich cultural and spiritual life, we can also witness the typical temple towers and diverse architecture of the Cham people. Notable are the special national monument of Po Klong Garai tower (Do Vinh ward), the special national monument of Hoa Lai tower (Thuan Bac commune), and the national monument of Po Rome tower (Phuoc Huu commune). According to recorded documents, Po Klong Garai tower was built by King Jaya Simhavarman III to worship Po Klong Garai - the king who had many achievements for the Cham people in fighting foreign invaders, digging ditches, building dams to make the fields flourish... This cluster of towers was determined to be built between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. Within the current relic site, in addition to the yard, garden, fence, internal road, entrance gate and the East gate, the complex of works serving tourism - culture, auxiliary architecture, shrine, architectural ruins..., there are also 3 relatively complete original architectures, including: Main tower (with statue of King Po Klong Garai), fire tower and gate tower.

Po Klong Garai Tower special national monument.

Hoa Lai Tower (also known as Ba Thap) was built around the 8th to 9th century. This is an architectural complex, including 3 main towers: South Tower, Middle Tower (collapsed in the early 20th century, now only the foundation remains), North Tower. According to researchers, there were many different opinions about Hoa Lai Tower in the past, but through archaeological excavations and comparison with inscriptions, it was agreed that the owner of this tower was the Cham people; Hoa Lai Tower is a temple complex, a sanctuary worshiping Shiva and Vishnu. The Hoa Lai Tower group also shows the imprint of Indian culture, Khmer art and Java. Along with that are the unique values, characteristics and cultural imprints of the Cham people.

Po Rome Tower is identified as the last brick tower of the Cham people, built in the 17th century to worship King Po Rome - the king who made many contributions to the economic , cultural and religious development of the Cham people. King Po Rome reigned from 1627 to 1651, considered to have made great contributions to the development of Cham writing, national harmony, religious unity and the application of irrigation techniques to agricultural production. Po Rome Tower originally consisted of many items, but to date, only the main tower, stone stele and a small temple remain. The main tower is about 16.5m high, with 4 floors. The tops of the tower's columns are decorated with stone slabs in the shape of flames. The tower has only one entrance facing East, in front is the ceremonial yard where rituals according to Brahmanism take place. Located in the middle of the tower is the national treasure, a statue of King Po Rome, carved in exquisite stone.

Values that need to be promoted

Of the three Cham towers mentioned above, Po Klong Garai tower has been put into operation to serve the people and tourists. Since the beginning of the year, Po Klong Garai tower has welcomed more than 230,000 visitors of all ages with an entrance fee. However, the current state of the internal roads in the areas within the tower complex has degraded; the landscape around the tower is covered with wild grass; the lighting system is lacking and degraded...

Tourists watch Cham dance performances at the Po Nagar Towers National Special Relic Site. Photo: XUAN THANH

Regarding Hoa Lai tower and Po Rome tower, services for tourists have not yet been exploited. People still come to Po Rome tower to perform religious rituals; very few people visit Hoa Lai tower. Regarding tourist services at Po Klong Garai tower, on October 1, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a document requesting the Khanh Hoa Provincial Cultural Heritage Conservation Center to submit a report clearly stating the advantages, limitations, difficulties and obstacles in implementing the electric car service to transport tourists within the relic site; to study the reasonable and scientific arrangement of display booths and souvenir shops to ensure that tourists can easily visit, access and shop.

According to many people, to promote the value of Cham tower relics, first of all, it is necessary to actively propagate and mobilize people and tourists to join hands to protect and not damage the relics. Actions such as climbing, sitting on the towers, writing graffiti on the relics... need to be strictly handled. Besides, it is necessary to promote the value of Cham towers to foreign tourists in Vietnamese - English and some other popular languages with many modern methods and means; carry out many cultural activities and events associated with the relics; build solutions to diversify tourism products at Cham towers to attract tourists in the coming time. In addition, there needs to be cooperation between provinces and cities with Cham cultural heritage in the work of preserving and promoting the value of Cham tower relics associated with tourism development through organizing seminars, talks, exchange sessions, visits to learn from each other's experiences. It is necessary to build a dossier to recognize the Cham tower system in Khanh Hoa province as a world cultural heritage... Hopefully, in the near future, the value of the Cham towers will be quantified by the revenue for the province's budget - something we have done at the Po Nagar Towers National Special Monument.

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Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202510/khai-thac-gia-tri-cac-thap-cham-vao-du-lich-3b050e2/