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The temples
Cham kings built Hindu temples in a valley from the 4th to the 13th century
My Son is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Shaiva Hindu temples in central Vietnam, built between the 4th and the 13th century by the kings of Champa. They honour Shiva under various local names.
A sacred valley
The valley held over 70 temples and many inscribed stele
At one time the site encompassed over 70 temples and numerous stele bearing inscriptions in Sanskrit and Cham. It was a place of religious ceremony for kings and a burial place for Cham royalty and national heroes.
over 70temples at one time, with many inscribed stele
A plea
A king asked his successors not to destroy what he had given
King Bhadravarman I, who ruled from 380 until 413, built a hall with a lingam to worship Shiva. His stele dedicated the entire valley to the god and ends with a plea to his successors.
“Out of compassion for me do not destroy what I have given.”
King Bhadravarman I, on a stele at the site
Fire
A fire in 535 or 536 took the wooden temples, and a later king rebuilt them
The first temples were mainly wood. The complex was consumed by a great fire in 535 or 536 AD. In the 7th century King Sambhuvarman rebuilt the temple and erected a stele to document the event.
1969
Most of the architecture was destroyed by bombing in August 1969
French scholars restored the main temple, known as A1, in 1937 and 1938. United States aircraft bombed the region in August 1969, and A1 is now little more than a formless pile of bricks. Unexploded land mines still make the surrounding area dangerous.
Day 3, morning
Next is Quan Cong Temple.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Mỹ Sơn archaeological site, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.