The excavation of the L tower group has revealed valuable information for construction and proposed plans for restoration and conservation of the L tower group.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, Head of the Conservation and Museum Department of the My Son Cultural Heritage Management Board (My Son Management Board) said that the L tower group was excavated according to Decision No. 1263/QD-BVHTTDL dated May 6, 2025 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, allowing the My Son Management Board to coordinate with the Institute of Monuments Conservation, the Institute of Archaeology and the CM Lerici Foundation (Italy) to excavate the L tower group in the My Son temple complex. According to the plan, the excavation area is 150m² (10m x 15m/1 hole).
This is considered an important project, from which there will be a plan to preserve the L tower group, one of the few last tower groups of My Son that need urgent excavation and preservation. The excavation time is expected to last until the end of July 2025. "This excavation work continues from the excavation in 2019 to preserve this important architectural relic of the My Son heritage," Mr. Tho informed.
Recently, experts from CM Lerici Foundation, Vietnam and a team of skilled workers have also carried out the work of separating and scientifically cleaning up the collapsed towers in the L tower group, on that basis to find authentic data as a scientific basis for the restoration of the L tower group, implementing measures to reinforce and protect the original state of the architectural foundation of the L tower group buried deep in the ground. On that basis, to propose a plan to restore the heritage in the most scientific and harmonious way, ensuring the principle of preserving the original value of the heritage.
Initial findings on the foundation and surrounding walls show that Group L is an architectural ruin with many differences compared to other tower groups of My Son. Initial assessments show that this is a residential area, not a temple. Group L consists of two towers L1 and L2 located on a high mound, relatively isolated from the remaining groups in the relic site. It has only been marked by the French on the map of the My Son relic site. There have been no published results or excavation and restoration interventions at that time.
As Van Hoa reported, in 2019, within the framework of the project "Vocational training center for relic restoration and cultural relic conservation in Quang Nam " signed between Milan Polytechnic University (Italy) and Quang Nam Vocational College - Vietnam, Italian experts and students participated in the survey and excavation of tower L1, which revealed many interesting new information about the L tower group, filling in the information gap.
However, to clarify the cultural, historical, technical, artistic, functional values, connections with other tower groups, construction dates, etc., more time and research and surveys are needed. In 2023, the People's Committee of Quang Nam province agreed in principle on the CMLerici Foundation sponsoring the archaeological research program in My Son. Experts from the CM Lerici Foundation (Italy) also had a long-term working program in My Son, focusing on archaeological cleanup of the L1 and L2 tower areas; excavating the L2 tower area.
In addition, there are some exploratory tests in the western area of L2 to assess the possibility of another ruin of the L tower group, scientific research, redrawing the ground plan of the L tower area, adding necessary information to build documents, surveying the status of the relic, etc. Thereby, planning and choosing solutions to continue the archaeological work and restoration of this ruin. Some work due to the stormy season should be moved to early 2024.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet, Director of My Son Management Board, said that the plan to preserve the L tower group after excavation was also proposed by the unit to be implemented differently from previous projects, which is to preserve the original state after excavation using the open-air method to serve visitors.
In addition to the archaeological excavation project at Tower L, the conservation project of Tower F and E is also continuing at My Son with the support of Indian and Vietnamese experts. The project is implemented according to the memorandum of understanding signed between the two governments of Vietnam and India, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the implementation period lasts until 2029, the total project value is 4.852 million USD from non-refundable aid from the Government of India.
The EF group is a complex of architectural ruins with special historical and cultural value of the My Son World Heritage Site. However, this group of temples and towers is still in a state of ruin after the war. This project is very necessary to preserve and restore the architecture and original elements remaining after the war. After nearly two months of implementation, this project has cleared the site, collected artifacts, broken bricks and tiles; and uncovered the surrounding walls of the architectural works belonging to the two groups of towers E and F.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, both projects aim at the important goal of preserving the original elements of the heritage, continuing to identify the hidden value of the My Son world heritage. The discoveries in the recent and current excavations show that the architectural works in the L, F, F tower groups date back very early, the initial discoveries in sculpture art show that there was a cultural exchange between the Champa dynasty and ancient countries in the region. The discoveries during the dismantling and cleaning process at the above tower groups continue to be concrete evidence of the outstanding global value of the My Son heritage.
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/phat-hien-khu-vuc-cu-tru-o-di-san-the-gioi-my-son-143201.html
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