Restoring Thu Thien Tower: Protecting heritage while serving tourism

Restoring Thu Thien Tower: Protecting heritage while serving tourism.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is coordinating with consulting and construction units to implement a project to prevent degradation, restore and promote the value of the Thu Thien Tower national monument, aiming to protect the heritage while promoting its value for tourism.

The Thu Thien Tower dates back to the first half of the 12th century. Since ancient times, the Thu Thien Tower (in Thu Thien village, Binh Nghi commune, Tay Son district) has been immortalized in Binh Dinh folk songs: "The ancient tower stands firm, built by whom? On one side is Thu Thien, on the other is Duong Long." The Thu Thien Tower is not situated on a high hill but on relatively flat land and is mentioned in H. Parmentier's work, *Statistical Survey of Cham Relics in Central Vietnam* (published in France in 1909). The *Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi* (National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty) records: "The ancient Thu Huong tower is in Thu Huong village, Tuong Van district, popularly known as the Dong Tower."

According to Associate Professor Dr. Ngo Van Doanh, writing in his book "Ancient Cham Towers: Truth & Legend": "If we follow the book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi, the Thu Thien tower also has another name, the Dong tower. Yet, for some unknown reason, French researchers mistakenly called the Canh Tien tower in Do Ban citadel the Dong tower."

The Thu Thien Tower dates back to the first half of the 12th century. Photo: NGOC NHUAN

Thu Thien Tower is an architectural structure belonging to the Binh Dinh style, grouped with Canh Tien and Phu Loc towers, although smaller in scale, but similar in design and construction methods. One of the most unusual features of ancient Champa sculpture discovered inside Thu Thien Tower is the rear wall section, deeply carved into the western wall of the tower to reveal an altar surrounded by a pointed arched niche. To date, of all the Champa temple towers whose existence has been recorded, only Thu Thien Tower has this detail.

The Thu Thien Tower was classified as a national architectural and artistic monument by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 20, 1995. From 1992-1993 and again in 2019, the province invested in restoring and reinforcing the tower's roof, but this did not completely resolve the issue of deterioration. Therefore, the province continues to invest in the restoration and preservation of the Thu Thien Tower. The project to prevent deterioration, restore, and promote the value of the national monument Thu Thien Tower was approved by the Provincial People's Committee for investment in the period 2021-2025, with a total capital of over 5.4 billion VND. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the investor, and the Institute of Conservation of Monuments (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is the consultant for preparing the feasibility study report for the project.

Mr. Bui Tinh, Director of the Provincial Museum, said: “This project continues to restore and preserve the architectural components, reconstructing the original brickwork of the tower; eradicating weeds growing on the tower's body and roof; preserving the walls and masonry blocks of the tower; and adding and restoring the stable structure of the entire roof… This restoration of Thu Thien Tower aims to protect and promote the value of the relic while serving the research, sightseeing, and tourism needs of the public.”

Each stage of the restoration of Thu Thien Tower was carried out meticulously and carefully. Photo: NGOC NHUAN

Mr. Tran Van Anh, from Phuoc Quang commune (Tuy Phuoc district) - who has been involved in the restoration and renovation of Cham towers for over 20 years and is the master craftsman in charge of the team restoring the Thu Thien tower - said: “The bricks used to restore the Thu Thien tower must be specially produced, with the firing temperature of the restored bricks similar to the original tower bricks. The bricks must be soaked in water and then ground and joined together before being used by the craftsmen to restore the tower's architecture. The team participating in the restoration of the Thu Thien tower consists of 8 people, all skilled craftsmen with many years of experience restoring and renovating Cham tower systems in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam . Each stage is largely done manually, meticulously and carefully.”

While concentrating on grinding tiles under gently flowing water, Mr. Vo Minh Nhut (also from Phuoc Quang commune) said: "Grinding tiles resurfaces them, ensuring the correct thickness and size so that when workers insert them, they fit perfectly. During the grinding process, you have to observe the tile to apply the correct amount of hand pressure."

Following Mr. Tran Van Anh, I squeezed through the scaffolding to climb to the top of the tower – where the workers were carrying out the restoration work. Slowly moving up the scaffolding to chat with them, I realized that this job was not easy at all.

Carefully measuring each detail and laying the bricks, Mr. Le Dinh Hong, from Binh Hoa commune (Tay Son district), a worker restoring the Thu Thien tower, said: “Before laying the bricks, we have to remeasure them. If any brick isn't flat, we use a grinding machine to smooth it out. To bond each brick together, we add a step of grinding them with water, then use glue, bark, and brick powder to connect the brick blocks. It sounds simple, but when doing it, we have to be meticulous and careful with every detail.”

After measuring and inspecting the restored sections, master craftsman Tran Van Anh further shared: "After bonding the tiles together, we have to check every detail, the mortar joints, and the tile connections to perfect the finish. We can't rush the process; we have to observe carefully, follow the design and expert advice precisely, and minimize any impact on the original monument."

Along with the system of 8 clusters/14 Cham towers in Binh Dinh that have been and are being invested in for restoration and preservation, the Thu Thien tower will contribute to showcasing the unique Cham temple architecture of Binh Dinh.

DOAN NGOC NHUAN

Source: https://baobinhdinh.vn/viewer.aspx?macm=18&macmp=18&mabb=342749