Vietnam is home to the My Son complex, which is a cluster of partially ruined Hindu temples. The latest addition to this cluster is monolithic sandstone Shiv Linga of 9thC CE, which has been dug out as part of an ongoing conservation project. The Archeological Survey of India was applauded for this by social media users around the world.
The External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar posted a Tweet about the event on Wednesday and termed it as 'Reaffirming a civilisational connect'.
A user while reacting to Dr Jaishankar's Tweet said that, "Ancient India stretched from the Arabian Sea past the tallest mountains in the world well into Central Asia. There must be thousands of these lost and hidden pieces of her history scattered all over. This serves as recognition of the power of the Dharma."
Mỹ Sơn is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples in Quảng Nam province, central Vietnam, constructed between the 4th and the 14th century by the Kings of Champa, an Indianized kingdom of the Cham people. The temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva, known under various local names, the most important of which is Bhadreshvara.
In Vietnam, Cham are the only surviving Hindus. Vietnam was home to some of the world's most exquisite and vibrant Hindu cultures. Not only Vietnam, but entire Southeast Asia was home to numerous Hindu kingdoms. Examples of this are the many magnificent temples and artifacts, from Angkor Wat to Prambana. These still stand strong but are no longer worshiped by the locals the way they were in the earlier times.
At some point in time, Champa was renowned for its immense wealth and sophisticated culture. Its major port was Kattigara, which was outlined on a world map by Claudius Ptolemy.
The find has somewhere sparked a religious streak among people. Twitter was flooded by people urging Dr Jaishankar to help make the site available for worship and to be resurrected by Hindus. Some said that Vietnam will simply just make it a tourist spot whereas it deserves much more.
The Shiv Linga found is in good condition, said one of the users.
