My Son

My Son


From Wikipedia

Mỹ Sơn (pronounced [mi sɤn]) is a Hindu temple complex, located in the village of Duy Phú, in the administrative district of Duy Xuyên in Quảng Nam province in Central Vietnam, 69km southwest of Da Nang, and approximately 10 km from the historic town of Trà Kiệu. It comprises many Champa temples, in a valley roughly two kilometres wide, surrounded by two mountain ranges. It was the site of religious ceremony of kings of the Champa dynasty, and was also a burial place of Champa royals and national heroes. The Mỹ Sơn temple complex is one of the foremost temple complexes of Hinduism in South East Asia and is the foremost heritage site of this nature in Vietnam.

This temple complex is often popularly compared to other temple complexes in South east Asia, such as Borobodur (Indonesia), Angkor Wat (Cambodia), Bagan (Myanmar) and Ayutthaya (Thailand). As of 1999, My Son has been selected by UNESCO as a world heritage listed site, at its 23rd meeting, under the criteria C (II) as an example displaying the evolution and change in culture, and criteria C (III) as a foremost evidence of Asian civilisation which is now extinct.

United States B52 aircraft carpet-bombed the site in August 1969. Large bomb craters remain, the two largest temples were ruined and 16 other temples were seriously damaged.