Urgent restoration of ancient tower in My Ly commune (Ky Son)

On March 30, the leader of the People's Committee of Ky Son district said that after the Provincial People's Committee agreed in principle, the locality assigned the Economic - Infrastructure Department to urgently develop a plan for urgent restoration and embellishment.Foam Tower(My Ly commune), for competent authorities to appraise and approve.

This move took place after the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued a document on March 26 agreeing to the policy of urgent restoration and embellishment of the provincial architectural and artistic relic of Xop Lot tower. The People's Committee assigned the Department of Culture and Sports to propose capital sources, send them to the Department of Finance for appraisal, and advise the Provincial People's Committee to consider and decide.

According to Ms. Tran Thi My Hanh - Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, Xop Lot Tower is an ancient Buddhist architectural work that has existed for centuries in the Western region of Nghe An. The tower is 21.91m high, made of layers of bricks stacked on top of each other, with a layer of mortar used between the bricks for adhesion. Around the sides of the tower are many highly artistic motifs and patterns: lotus flowers, chrysanthemums, clouds and water waves, Bodhi leaves, and Buddha statues. Xop Lot Tower is considered a rare and unique work of art of Nghe An that needs to be preserved and promoted. This relic was ranked at the provincial level on January 26, 2024.

"Over time, due to human and environmental impacts, the tower has been severely damaged. Part of the tower's base has collapsed, causing the tower to tilt and be at risk of collapsing," said Ms. Hanh.

This ancient tower is believed to have been built in the 7th century. This is the largest tower and also the only remaining tower here. Previously, in My Ly commune, there was a complex of ancient towers, but over time, they all collapsed, and now there are no ruins left. This ancient tower currently has dozens of holes from the base to the top. These are all traces left behind after thieves chiseled the tower to steal the bronze Buddha statue.

Mr. Luong Van Bay - Chairman of the People's Committee of My Ly commune said that in the past, there were many black bronze Buddha statues inside this ancient tower. However, about 20 years ago, when black bronze was in vogue, thieves started to break into the ancient tower to steal the Buddha statues inside. "Wherever there was a drawing of a Buddha statue on the outside, there was a bronze statue like that inside. Therefore, thieves kept targeting that location to break into and steal the black bronze statues to sell," Mr. Bay said. In just a short time, holes appeared all over the body of the ancient tower.

However, not long after, Yen Hoa residents discovered that many statues had been secretly returned by thieves, placed inside holes in the tower. To date, 7 bronze Buddha statues have been returned. Most of the thieves who stole the Buddha statues were from other localities.

Currently, fearing that the unprotected ancient tower will continue to be lost, the 5 Buddha statues are being strictly protected by My Ly commune, while the other 2 statues are kept by the Yen Hoa village management board.

“We plan to return these remaining statues to the ancient tower after restoration and renovation. If we leave them inside the tower now, we fear they will continue to be lost,” said the Chairman of the People’s Committee of My Ly Commune.