My Son Relic is in danger of destruction as large cracks and sinkage have been found at the cluster of two ancient Hindu Temples.
Deputy Director of the management board of My Son Relic Nguyen Cong Khiet stated that the B3 and B5 temples are currently in serious condition because of the discovery and that a plan to fix and preserve it has to be produced and implemented soon.
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A thorough inspection of the structure revealed that the damage was a long-term result of rain and flooding, especially since underground water from the stream runs through it. A supporting wall was built to protect the B3 temple in 1992 by the Polish architect Kazimierz Kwiatkowski but in 2006, Japanese experts discovered the underground water which eventually weakened the foundation. The Ministry of Construction’s Science and Technology Institute inspected the temple on September 2013, but was not able to come up with a sound conservation plan.
The temple has slanted to more than eight degrees to the South-West since while the sinkage has caused cracks of up to sex meters long and 12 cms. wide. A dike could not be constructed because it is against the law to build a new structure on protected sites. Worse, other temples are also facing the same problem.
My Son is composed of eight groups of 71 partially-ruined Hindu temples built between the 4th and 13th centuries during the reign of the Champa Kingdom on Central Vietnam. It stands on 142 hectares of land which hold even more relics that still have to be explored. Its historical significance earned its World Heritage Site status in 1999 by UNESCO and made it a popular tourist destination all over the globe.
Today, My Son Relic can be found in the Duy Xuyen District of Quang Nam Province. But the current flood season has further increased its danger of collapsing, even causing many tours to be cancelled because of the impending threat. Unless an effective preservation plan will be generated soon, My Son may face the terrible possibility of losing its tourism or worse, its dearly held history.