Muong Bam Tower

Muong Bam Tower

Muong Bam Tower, also known as That Ban Lao, is an architectural and artistic relic in Lao village, Muong Bam commune, Thuan Chau district, Son La province, Vietnam. Muong Bam Tower was ranked as a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on October 24, 2012. This is an architectural and artistic relic of the Lao people built in the 16th century. Muong Bam Tower is ancient, mossy, and quiet on a hill at the beginning of the commune. Located on a hill overlooking the Nam Hua River, which in Thai means "headstream" of the Ma River. The tower is 4 floors high, built in the shape of a 13 m high tower. Standing from the tower, you can see the entire Muong Bam commune with the Nam Hua stream winding like a big snake and the surrounding rolling mountains. The people in Muong Bam are mainly Thai, Kho Mu, and H'Mong ethnic people. According to the elders in the village, more than 500 years ago, this was a land with beautiful scenery, favorable geography, with a long mountain range, in front was the Nam Hua stream flowing through, rice fields following the stream. heating. According to feng shui theory, this is a beautiful and stable land. Here half a century ago, the Lao and Thai tribes lived together peacefully and worked hard to do business. Muong Bam Tower is also called "That Ban Lao" (That in Lao means Tower). The tower is located in the center of the village, where many Lao ethnic people in the commune live. The Tower's architecture bears bold architectural features of the Lao people. Therefore, people here often call it Lao Ban Tower. The tower consists of a complex of 5 towers, a large tower in the middle and 4 smaller towers next to the big tower. The Tower's face overlooks the confluence of the long, winding Nam Hua stream, with mountain blocks as a screen, mountains blocking both sides to act as thrones, behind the Tower there is a mountain range that looks like a person sitting "meditating". The Tower complex has a very quiet and majestic position. All 5 towers are built with a main material of red bricks, bonded together with lime, sand, and molasses. The patterns are made of embossed stucco, and in many places decorative terracotta shapes are attached. The big tower is also called the Mother Tower, 13 m high, divided into 4 floors. Decorated mainly with patterns of Elephants, Tigers and dancing Female Statues, leaves bent in the shape of clouds, chrysanthemum patterns, stylized lemon flowers, "rosary" patterns, Naga 5 "magic snake" images head, a downward-facing lotus shape, etc. All of these patterns are embossed on the gradually shrinking base. The entire body looks like a blooming lotus bud from afar. The small towers are 3.7m high, located 3m away from the big tower, built with identical architecture and decorative patterns. Small Tower, also known as Small Tower, is divided into 4 floors. Decorated mainly with leaf patterns alternating with cloud patterns, chrysanthemum strings and gerbera flowers. The 4 sides of the base of the tower are covered with 4 raised leaves, large enough to hug the 4 corners, inside there are 2 hidden threads running parallel. The top of the tower gradually shrinks, soaring into the sky. Currently, the relic remains a large tower (mother tower) and a small tower (child tower). Besides the big tower, there is also a statue of "gods" right at the foot of the tower that has been completely broken (only the pedestal remains). Muong Bam Tower along with the system of Pagodas and Towers in the Northwest region such as: Muong Luan Tower (Dien Bien Dong), Muong Va Tower (Sop Cop district, Son La province) Chien Vien Pagoda (Vat Hong Pagoda - Moc Chau district , Son La province) Muong Bam Tower (Thuan Chau district - Son La province) is a unique Buddhist pagoda and tower architecture belonging to the Theravada sect. According to the old people in the story, in the past, in the Tower area every year in April of the solar calendar, a "rain praying ceremony" was held for the new crop. Over the years, the Lao tribe moved to other places to live. Currently, there are no longer festivals held here. According to the assessment of the cultural sector, the uniqueness of the tower, in addition to its shape, also includes the materials used to build the tower. Source: Son La province electronic information portal

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