Cautiously implement the conservation project of the North Tower and the Middle Tower of Chien Dan

Chien Dan Cham Tower Group. Photo: KHÁNH LINH

Expected to start construction in August 2025

The People's Committee of Quang Nam province has just approved the project to preserve, restore, and promote the value of the North and Middle towers of the Chien Dan Cham Tower National Monument.

The project will focus on restoration and reinforcement of the relic such as cleaning up the exposed ground and collecting artifacts around the base of the tower; dismantling reinforced masonry blocks made of cement mortar and old bricks (previously), replacing rotten and broken bricks at slightly damaged locations on the surface of the tower's base and walls.

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 and anchor 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 top of the North tower with box iron frame and tempered glass; protect the entire structure and related items from termites.

In addition, auxiliary items serving the relic restoration activities are also deployed in parallel, such as installing scaffolding systems for construction; supplying electricity, water, brick processing tanks and other auxiliary items serving the restoration.

The project to preserve, renovate, restore and promote the value of the North Tower and the Middle Tower of Chien Dan is invested by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The total investment is nearly 16.8 billion VND from the provincial budget, of which the construction cost is nearly 14.4 billion VND. The implementation progress is from 2023 to 2025.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Cham tower restoration project is a unique and special architecture, so after the Provincial People's Committee approves the investment policy, the unit will continue to complete the designs, drawings... and send them to the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) for inspection, appraisal, and final comments, then organize a bidding. It is expected to start construction in August 2025.

Implement closely and carefully

Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Thanh Hong said that this project must be implemented very closely and carefully in every step and process because very few units can advise on Cham architecture, and the procedures also take more time than other projects.

Mr. Hong affirmed that the merger of the province does not affect the projects of restoration and embellishment of relics, especially public investment projects in the fields of culture, sports and tourism.

"Yesterday (May 28), the department worked with the Provincial Party Secretary and the Secretary also agreed that the above projects will continue until completion, and not have to stop when they are merged into the province," Mr. Hong added.

In 2021, the Provincial People's Committee approved the project to preserve, restore and promote the value of the South Tower of Chien Dan Cham Tower with an investment scale of more than 5.4 billion VND. The project was assigned to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the investor and was completed at the end of 2023.

However, the arrangement of iron trusses inside the South Tower to support the roof system also caused many concerns and controversial debates from researchers and scientists related to the art and spiritual space of the relic.

The iron truss supporting the roof system of Nam Chien Dan tower is causing much controversy among Cham culture researchers. Photo: KHÁNH LINH

In response to concerns about repeating the plan of using iron scaffolding placed inside Bac Chien Dan tower to support the roof system, Mr. Hong said that the consulting unit, the Institute for Monument Conservation (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), will be responsible and conduct thorough research.

Including research, consulting experts, researchers on Cham culture, architecture, and sculpture to limit negative impacts on relics, although this content is not included in the process.

"In the restoration of architectural relics, Cham relic architecture is the most difficult because very few units have the ability to consult, and very few units have the ability to restore. Not to mention, the budget is not much, the technical factors are very high, plus the spiritual and landscape factors... so conflicting opinions are also normal.

The consulting unit will of course have to take into account all factors and listen carefully to do it. However, if there is force majeure, the number 1 priority is still how to ensure restoration, prevent collapse... then the next factors" - Mr. Hong said.

The Chien Dan Cham Tower Group dates back to the early 12th century and consists of three main structures (South Tower, Middle Tower and North Tower) built in a straight line along the North-South axis. These are architectural works with beautiful sculptures. However, over time, some of the construction items have been damaged and degraded.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/than-trong-trien-khai-du-an-bao-ton-thap-bac-va-thap-giua-chien-dan-3155737.html