History of My Son

We find the first mentions of a Cham Kingdom when the inhabitants of the Tuong Lam region raised a rebellion against the Chinese feudal domination, in 192 AD, in order to establish an independent kingdom in the territory that lay from the present-day Quang Binh Province to Binh Thuan Province.

From 192 to 758 AD, this kingdom bore the name of Lam Ap. From 758 AD, it was designated in Chinese documents as Hoan Vuong (Huan Wang). Then, in 875, it was baptized Chiem Thanh (Sino Vietnamese transcription of Champapura, city of the Chams). The Cham Kingdom had two holy cities belonging to two main opposing clans. My Son Holy City of the Dua Clan ruled over the north of the kingdom and was the place for the worship of God Srisanabhadresvara. The Cau Clan, who reigned over the South, had Po Nagar Holy City, dedicated to King Po Nagar. Nevertheless, My Son was considered as the Holy City of the Champa. Each new monarch came to My Son after his accession to the throne, for the ceremony of purification and to present offerings and erect new monuments, which explains why My Son is the only place where Cham art flourished with out interruption from the 7th to the 13th century.

The first constructions date back to the 4th century, under the reign of Bhadravarman. According to Cham beliefs, the monuments were sacred places, dedicated to gods, and ordinary people were not allowed to go in. Only Brahman monks and members of royalty could take part in the ritual ceremonies. According to the epitaphs (inscriptions) found in My Son, we know that, at the end of the 4th century, King Bhadravarman erected a wooden temple for God Shiva Bhadresvara. This is why you can read that "The King has dedicated to Shiva Bhadresvara an eternal place, surrounded by Mount Sulah to the east, Mount Mahaparvata to the south, Mount Kusala to the west, and Mount (…) to the north. Thereby, he gives him all the lands, the harvest and the people living in this domain. If the lands and harvests are to be destroyed by some enemies, the inhabitants will not be punished. Justice will be implemented by the God himself".

Later on, a fire destroyed this temple. At the beginning of the 7th century, King Sambhuvarman had it rebuilt and rebaptized Sambhu-Bhadresvara. During the period between 758 to 859 AD under the reign of Hoan Vuong, the capital of the Kingdom was moved to the Kauthara region. The holy city of Po Nagar was built to worship King Po Nagar, but some monuments (A2, C7 and F3) were still erected at My Son. From 875 to 915 AD, under the reign of Indrapura, Buddhism took over the religious scene in the kingdom. The temple dedicated to Laksmindra Bodhisattva was built in Dong Duong, and at the same time temples A 10, A 11, A 13 and B4 were erected at My Son. At the beginning of the 10th century, when Hinduism became the major religion again, My Son was back to its situation as the main holy city of Champa. Most of the temples and monuments on the site (A 1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B8; C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, D1, D2, D4) were built during that period, the golden age of Cham architecture. At the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century (1192 to 1220), Champa was invaded several times by the Khmers; and numerous temples were burned or destroyed. Under the reign of Jaya Paramesvaravarman II (starting from 1220), when the Khmers retreated, some monuments were restored at My Son, while others were still being built until the end of the 13th century.