PHU YEN — Archaeologists from the Viet Nam Archaeology Institute have excavated a 4th century Cham tower in the central province of Phu Yen.

Objects found by archaeologists indicate that the temple was dedicated to God Shiva with typical architectural decorations used by the Champa civilisation. — Photo tuoitre.vn

The tower’s date was identified by examining bricks at the site.

Nguyen Tien Dong, head of the urban archaeology department at the institute, who is also head of the excavation team, said experts discovered remnants of a Champa Worship Temple eight days after working at the Dong Mieu site, located in the Dinh Tho 1 Street Area in Phu Hoa Town in Phu Hoa District

The objects that were found indicated that the temple was dedicated to God Shiva with typical architectural decorations used by the Champa civilisation.

“We found bricks from the 4th to the 5th century,” he said. “In the central region, from Quang Nam to Binh Thuan, many relics of the Cham have been discovered, but none of them have had bricks from so long time ago.”

“That’s why this excavation result at Dong Mieu site is extremely valuable,”  Dong said.

Phan Dinh Phung, vice chairman of Phu Yen People’s Committee, also visited the site and asked the team to make a detailed report on the results to submit to high-ranking authorities to protect the site and complete further research in the future.

Phu Yen is home to various sites of the Cham civilisation, including the Nhan Tower, Da Dien Port and Ho Citadel.

The term Champa refers to a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is today’s central and southern Viet Nam, from approximately the 2nd century (192) through the 19th century (1832).

The kingdom was also known as the Cham Pa in Vietnamese and Chiem Thanh in Sino-Vietnamese. — VNS