Po Dam Tower

Po Dam Tower

Po Dam Tower in Lac Tri village, Phu Lac commune, Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan province, is one of the oldest tower clusters of Champa architecture. Po Dam Tower (pronounced Po Tam) was built to worship King Po Dam, also known as Po Kathit (Ban La Tra Duyet) of the Cham people. The Po Dam tower cluster has a very strange structure and layout, it must be said to be the strangest compared to other tower clusters of Champa architecture. The Po Dam tower complex was ranked by the State as a national historical, cultural, architectural and artistic relic in 1996. Instead of being built on top of a hill or on flat land like many other tower clusters, Po Dam tower is located on the side of a hill. The Cham people call it Co Gada, and the Vietnamese in the area call it Ong Xiem hill. Of the 6 towers found, only the South tower (as named by French archaeologist Parmentier) has the main door facing east, towards the rising sun like most Cham towers, the remaining 5 towers in the tower cluster. Po Dam all face South, slightly West. Some researchers explain that the tower door facing that way is to commemorate ancestors, while the south direction is to the other world, the underworld. Anyway, these are two rare phenomena in the history of Cham tower architecture. Po Dam Tower is a cluster of towers built in the 8th century, the same age as Hoa Lai Tower in Ninh Thuan. Over 12 centuries of turbulence, coupled with a rather "unsettled" architectural position, the tower was quite dilapidated. In addition to the two towers on the North axis, which collapsed completely leaving behind only the linga, the remaining 4 towers on the South axis, none of the towers remained intact. Therefore, Binh Thuan province has a plan to reinforce, restore and renovate. In addition to the precious antiques found that the newspapers have reported, such as: pieces of ancient tiles with strange shapes, a set of stone grinding tables (called Rathung patau by the Cham people), two bronze mata rings, a bell small bronze, 1 iron ax, 1 copper-printed rattle, under the North tower shaft, people also found a yellow bowl (pata - patil) (possibly made of bronze or gold) and especially a skeleton that could is the remains that legend says belongs to the king's mother, Po Bia Than. Her grave - like that of Bia Than Cih in Po Rome Tower in Ninh Thuan - was later covered. In the south of the South axis tower, after excavation, the entire base with important relics is also visible. Po Dam Tower is one of the oldest and most strangely structured tower clusters in ancient Champa architecture in the southernmost region of this kingdom. Moreover, it is a cluster of living towers, meaning they are worshiped and worshiped every year by the Cham community in the area. Archaeological excavation is necessary to discover traces that corroborate history and collect artifacts to enrich the country's museums. But what is more necessary is how to restore the tower without damage and especially without being mixed, keeping the sacred part of the tower as its true Cham tower. Source: Binh Thuan Tourism

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