After a silent period due to the pandemic, My Son Temple Complex, Quang Nam Province, has renewed itself when returning with a unique art program. The program has brought viewers back to an old space imbued with cultural colours and the material of folklore with numerous types of artistic languages.

Apsara dancers stepping out from the ancient tower, along with warriors holding shining swords and spears create a harmony of yin and yang. Photo: NHU HANH

People have thousands of reasons to come to My Son Temples, but the bottom line is admiration for the only evidence of a distant Asian civilization. Even though thousands of years have passed, the red of each brick of the ancient towers has not faded. Behind the silent towers in the sunset is a mysterious construction technique, tinged with legends and divine folk tales.

My Son Valley- the valley of Gods

On moonlit nights, the hidden beauty of the My Son temples appears clearly. The ancient towers suddenly become shimmering and fanciful in the magical moonlight. The moonlight overflows and sparkles on the reliefs of Apsara dancers as if those two curved arms are moving in a wake of a thousand-year dance. The rolling hills and mountains bring the sound of the wind rising like the beat of a Paranung drum, making the fairy dance even more captivating.

Five years ago, while sipping a cup of wine at the foot of the ancient My Son temple, painter Nguyen Thuong Hy said that the complex of temples and towers is modelled after the mythical Mount Meru in the Himalayas in the distant country of India, where is said to be the abode of Hindu gods.

In addition, the elements on the content of the first inscription designate My Son valley to be dedicated to the gods. My Son valley became a sacred place for religious rituals and formalities, so later generations called My Son Sanctuary the divine valley”.

According to the guard of My Son's ancient temples, it is said that My Son's land contains many gold treasures of the Cham people. At night, flocks of golden chickens crawled from the ground to roam the wild grass. It is also said that sometimes someone picks up gold or silver areca, but when they bring it home, it's just clay.

A legendary night

The sunset gradually falls on the road leading to the ancient temple complex. The taste of a cup of green tea still lingers on the lips, making visitors feel like they are crossing the wall of time, looking for a space full of memories.

It is getting dark quickly in the waiting mood of many people. The ancient temples that have been silent for thousands of years in the heart of My Son valley show off their fanciful and magical looks with the effects of light and smoke from the stage.

Audiences are satisfied with the appearance of Cham girls moving with ancient dances to form an endless flow. Apsara dancers stepped out from the ancient tower in the middle of the fog, vague and soft like flowing water along with warriors holding shining swords and spears, creating a harmony of yin and yang.

My Son Sanctuary has never had an outdoor art show that the audience is so focused on as that. There are no loud sounds or howling. There is only the flow of music, light and artistic movements of nearly 200 actors in the heart of the ancient temples. Audiences let themselves drift into the story, which is arranged in layers, leaving a message intact for posterity about preserving and promoting the cultural values left behind by the ancients.

The restoration and preservation of My Son Sanctuary,  an intangible heritage,  have been going on for more than 40 years, and people have also been popularized the knowledge and aesthetics of the ancient temple complex, but the understanding of Cham cultural quintessence existing in the heart of My Son’s land is still quite simple. Therefore, enjoying a special art show in the heart of the ancient temple complex helps create a resonance between the unique beauty of temples and the cultural values according to the time levels that have passed through this place.

Thap Arija Dang, a Cham officer from Ninh Thuan, is incarnated as a shaman in an excerpt from Rija Nùgar. Photo: NHU HANH

Full of nostalgia

It can be said that this is the first time that the My Son Sanctuary heritage complex opens its doors to guests at night with a completely new tourism product to show off the values of the cultural quintessence of Champa.

The legendary My Son Night art show on the night of March 24 is not only an activity to continue the series of events in the National Tourism Year - Quang Nam 2022 but will take place regularly on the monthly 16^th night of the lunar calendar. It is also dependent on the actual demands of visitors to increase the performance, proceed to serve every night”, said Mr Phan Ho, director of the Management Board of My Son  World Cultural Heritage Site.

On top of that, visitors can also experience and enjoy the folklore of the two ethnic groups Cham – Viet along the road leading to the My Son temple complex. Thap Arija Dang, an officer of the Culture and Arts Department of My Son Cultural Heritage, incarnated as a shaman in an excerpt of Rija Nùgar with his rhythmic footsteps, a fan in his hand and a red scarf waved to the throb of the jingle drum and the sound of the Saranai trumpet. "The Rija Nugar worshipping ceremony of the Cham people is often held at the beginning of the new year to pray for favourable weather, peaceful villages and banish evil", he said.

Apparently, beautiful moments in the traditional costumes of the Cham people, letting their bare hands come into contact with the clay to polish ceramics with Cham artisans, or silently watching artistic hands glide on the brocade loom have also created a nostalgic hold for domestic and foreign tourists.

"Legendary My Son Night" consists of 3 chapters. The first one is called "Valley - the story of time" vividly depicts the flow of time taking place in the ancient and unique beauty of the temple complex from time immemorial. Chapter 2 "Legendary My Son Night" takes people back in time to feel the sacred origin. Chapter 3 "Light of harmony" is the harmony between past and present, reminding posterity to preserve and promote existing values.

Reporting by NHU HANH- Translating by T.VY