Ancient tower over a thousand years old in Quang Nam, mysterious appearance, rare architecture hard to find
Việt Nam•14/10/2024
The over 1,000-year-old Bang An ancient tower is a Cham tower with a unique octagonal architecture, completely unlike any other tower that still exists today in Vietnam.
Bang An Tower is located in Dien An ward (Dien Ban town, Quang Nam ), 14km from Hoi An and about 27km from Da Nang city.
According to researchers, the tower was built around the 10th century and was used as a place of worship and sacrifice. Inside the tower is a shrine to the god Shiva (represented by Linga).
Bang An Tower is one of the largest remaining brick sculptures of the Champa culture.
Despite thousands of years of history, some details have been damaged by nature and war, but the unique architecture of the ancient tower is still quite intact.
In particular, this is the only octagonal tower remaining to this day in Vietnam and has been recognized as a national historical and cultural relic since 1989.
Some pictures of the 1,000 year old tower:
Located in a campus of about 4,000m2 full of trees, Bang An tower has a quiet, mysterious appearance. The tower is octagonal in shape, each side is 4m long and 21.5m high. The tower structure includes a lobby and a shrine. The lobby is quite long, with the main door facing East to catch the sunlight. On both sides are two side doors. In 1943, the French renovated it into two windows. Seen from above, the shrine consists of three parts: the base, the octagonal body and the pyramidal roof formed by eight curved surfaces towards the top. The tower is decorated with geometric lines at the junction between the base and the body of the tower, as well as between the body and the top of the tower. In front of the main gate there are 2 sandstone statues of Gajasimha (a sacred animal with an elephant's head and a lion's body). The shrine is shaped like a giant Linga block, while the ground plan of the entire tower evokes the image of Yoni associated with the beliefs of the Cham people. Unlike other Champa towers, Bang An tower shrine has an octagonal plan and does not have typical decorative elements such as: columns, fake doors, patterns. Inside the tower there is a Linga statue, a symbol of Shiva, but now only the altar remains. The top of the pyramid seen from inside the shrine. Due to many changes, the pyramid has lost its decorative details on the edges. The tower is built of baked bricks, no mortar joints are visible but it is very durable. In the tower grounds, there is also a stone stele engraved with ancient Champa characters. Bang An Tower is an ideal destination for tourists who want to explore Champa culture and admire the work with extremely unique architecture.
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