Not only national historical and cultural relics, national treasures are also seriously affected by nature and humans and need to be protected. Over recent years, the Da Nang authorities have implemented many drastic measures to preserve precious heritages, thereby promoting the cultural and historical values of the nation.

The Tra Kieu pedestal is one of the 6 national treasures being displayed at the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture. Photo: D.H.L

Preservation of national treasures

Inside the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, many stone statues dating back centuries have been kept almost intact. In particular, the national treasures displayed here always draw much attention from visitors.

Standing thoughtfully in front of the Tra Kieu Pedestal dating from the 7^th-8^th  centuries, Truong Son, a tourist from Ha Tinh Province, said “I love Indian culture, so when I come here to visit, I feel very interesting. Many statues made hundreds to thousands of years ago are still imprinted with the ancient times of Champa culture. Thanks to this, I understand more about the process of formation and development of this unique culture”.

The preservation of artifacts in the museum, especially national treasures, is not an easy job, requiring the application of many complex techniques and strict implementation of security protection plans.

Mr. Nguyen Bay, heritage officer of the museum’s Department of Collections - Preservation and Display, said that the preservation of national treasures in the museum is identified as a key activity, in which preventive preservation is a top priority.

The Museum of Cham Sculpture has well performed the inspection and control of the preservation environment for the 4 exhibits on display and the 2 artifacts kept in the warehouse in a stable environment.

Depending on materials and specific status of each artifact, the preservation is carried out in accordance with strict preventive preservation principles such as regularly monitoring and checking the condition of the artifacts; cleaing the podiums and protective glass belts; and dusting off.

In addition, the movement and change of display and preservation positions of national treasures must be monitored and supervised by the security force.

For instance, the My Son E1 pedestal is dated from the 7^th-8^th centuries. Previously, the exhibit was displayed close to the floor by the French with the base being pressed against the wall, so it was easily weathered on the surface.

However, in 2009, under the FSP project funded by the French and Vietnamese governments, the pedestal was preserved and disassembled by French, Cambodian and Vietnamese experts and displayed on the podium as it is today.

Besides, the Museum of Cham Sculpture also cooperates with local police force to implement measures to prevent theft, vandalism and other harmful risks.

Surveillance cameras are installed at galleries and storage warehouses where national treasures are located for regular inspection, monitoring, and timely detection and prevention of theft activities and other harmful cases.

Unique cultural destination

Besides 6 national treasures stored at the Museum of Cham Sculpture, Da Nang has two special national-level relics: Dien Hai Citadel and Marble Mountains that need to be strictly protected.

The Dien Hai Citadel was recognised as a special national-level relic site in 2017. Situated on the western side of the Han River, the Dien Hai Citadel was originally called Dien Hai Fortress. It was originally built near Da Nang’s estuary in 1812 under the reign of Emperor Gia Long. Then, in 1823, it was moved inland and rebuilt in brick on a hillock during the reign of Emperor Minh Mang.  It was renamed the Dien Hai Citadel in 1835.

In 2018, the city poured more than VND185 billion into the implementation of the Dien Hai Citadel restoring and embellishing project in two phases. It is expected that once the second phase of the project is completed in 2024, the venue will become a landscape highlight in the city center, vividly recreating the old citadel with heroic historical stories.

Meanwhile, the Marble Mountains scenic spot was recognised as a special national-level relic on December 24, 2018. By April 2020, the Prime Minister approved the task of formulating a plan to preserve and restore the special national-level relic.

It is expected once completed, the Marble Mountains will become a special cultural and spiritual destination in Da Nang.

Currently, the city is asking for approval from the Prime Minister for the Ngu Hanh Son Cultural and Historical Park project.

In order to serve visitors well, the Management Board of the Marble Mountain Tourist Area always focuses on ensuring security and order and a clean environment.

Recently, the Management Board has also upgraded the parking lot and installed anti-slip stones in the Am Phu (hell) Cave.

Attention has been paid to cooperating with the Museum of Da Nang and the municipal Department of Culture and Sports to provide professional support to heritage conservation.

Currently, the Management Board is asking for permission from the municipal government to preserve and promote the values of ‘Ma Nhai’ (Inscriptions).

It can be seen that it is very important and urgent to strengthen the protection, preservation and promotion of national treasures and special national-level relics in the city.

Additionally, the city needs to build and effectively implement programmes to promote the value of cultural and historical heritages to the public. As a result, visitors will admire and gain a deeper understanding of works of profound ideological, aesthetic and humanistic value.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by M.DUNG