Recent excavations at My Son Sanctuary revealed an ancient ceremonial road, serving as a spiritual entrance used by Hindu deities and Champa kings between the 10th and 12th centuries. This significant find uncovers architectural insights and enhances conservation and tourism efforts at the UNESCO-recognized site, important for Champa culture and history.
According to reports from excavation programmes conducted between July and November, this sacred road and its entrance structure have been unearthed for the first time in the known research history of My Son, the sanctuary’s management board confirmed.
The road remained unknown until June 2023, when archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and the My Son Sanctuary management board began excavations across a 220-square-metre area during the 2023-2024 period.
A rare architectural and spiritual find
Ngo Van Doanh, an expert from the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, said the discovery holds exceptional architectural and historical value, as it represents the first fully excavated ceremonial pathway identified within the sanctuary.
“The excavation also revealed the locations of five gates along the right side of the guide wall of the sacred road,” Doanh noted.
“Remarkably, this feature was not identified by Henri Parmentier or other French archaeologists during earlier excavations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”
He added that documents and artefacts from the latest excavations strongly confirm the road’s role as a sacred entrance to My Son, calling it one of Vietnam’s most important archaeological discoveries in modern times.
New findings expand earlier research
Nguyen Ngoc Quy, an archaeologist with the Institute of Archaeology, explained that Indian archaeologists had previously identified two gates to the east and west of Tower K, along with sections of the guide wall leading toward towers E and F during restoration work in 2017-2018.
Subsequent excavations in 2023-2024 revealed two additional guide wall sections connecting Tower K with towers E and F. A further research programme carried out in July 2025 uncovered a road segment east of Tower K measuring approximately 75 metres long and 9 metres wide.
The road surface was compacted using a mixture of sand, pebbles, and crushed bricks, with a thickness ranging from 0.15 to 0.2 metres. The guide walls were constructed of bricks set on foundations made from brick powder and ground pebbles. Numerous artefacts and fragments of terracotta and ceramics dated to the 10th-12th centuries were also recovered.
Insights into Champa spirituality
Researcher and artist Nguyen Thuong Hy, a specialist in Champa culture, said the discovery provides valuable insight into Champa religious practices and spiritual symbolism.
He noted that ongoing excavations along the road are opening new directions for research, reinforcing its significance as a key ceremonial and spiritual axis of the sanctuary.
Conservation and tourism potential
Nguyen Cong Khiet, Deputy Head of the My Son Sanctuary World Heritage Site management board, said further conservation and restoration programmes will be implemented to support archaeological research and enhance visitor experiences.
Recognised by UNESCO in 1999, My Son Sanctuary lies approximately 70 kilometres from Da Nang and is the only remaining central complex of Champa temple towers dating from the 4th to the 13th centuries. It represents a unique spiritual, political, and cultural centre of the former Champa Kingdom in central Vietnam.
Many artefacts recovered from My Son have been preserved and displayed at the Cham Sculpture Museum in Da Nang since 1915, with significant contributions from French archaeologist Henri Parmentier. Restoration and preservation efforts over recent decades have also benefited from the work of late Polish archaeologist and architect Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, known as Kazik, as well as support from international organisations and the governments of Italy, India, and Poland.
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