My Son –
the site of ancient ruins
Civilisations existed
and perished conforming with the natural diktat of change that whatever came
into being will have to go. Many great civilizations have existed and then made way
for something different emerging out of their ashes. ‘My Son’ (‘Miseon’ in Vietnamese)
is one such location near the town of Hoi An in Central Vietnam that stands a testimony
to one vast civilization of the yore. A cluster of ruins of Hindu temples are
found here. These temples were constructed during the period 4th to
14th century C E by the Cham Hindu rulers. The Cham were powerful
Hindus who ruled most parts of what is today known as Vietnam and Cambodia. The
Cham armies fought with the Chinese invaders from the North and defeated and
contained them. Their kingdom was finally annexed in 1832 by the Vietnamese
king Minh mang. 
The Chams built temples mostly dedicated to Lord Shiva. But
their allegiance to the Trinity of Hindu pantheon is clearly visible amid the
ruins. The Ganges flowing down to the Cham land, the story of Lord Krishna and Mahabharata all find their place in the complex of ruins. The My Son temples were mostly
built in brick (thin bricks of tile size) in a picturesque valley encircled on
three sides by high rocky mountains. Sand stone construction is also visible.
In the 15th century many Chams converted to Islam
to become ‘Bani Cham’. Those who remained in their religion are now
known as ‘Balamon Cham’ or Brahmin Cham. There are only two non-Indic Hindu
races; the Balinese Hindus of Indonesia and the Balamon Cham Hindus of Vietnam.
Despite the Chams being non-Indic they had a strong
connection with India and the Sanskrit language was taken to the Cham land
where inscriptions both in the Cham and Sanskrit language are made on sand
stone slabs.
How to
reach:
The site is 37 Km from Hoi An and 39 km from Da nang and
there are plenty of transport choices to make this half day trip. Packaged tours
are available aplenty. Being an explorer and a leisure traveller, I am not in favour
of taking a packaged tour. They are interested only in taking you to the
commercial spots where their interests lie and the actual time you get to
explore the site is very limited.
I hired a car from Hoi An and started the journey at around 9
am. I was back at the Home Stay by 2 pm. A good three hours spent at the site.
13 Nov 2017, Hoi An
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