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The Yoni statue was found for the first time in Binh Dinh. Photo H.T |
The archaeological excavation of Duong Long towers in Tay Binh commune, Tay Son District has already been finished after one month. It has unearthed many new, valuable objects.
Unearth trace of Siva temple
This year’s archaeological excavation has been carried out mainly in the west of the towers. In the excavated hole behind the middle and Nam (south) towers found the Yoni statue, a stylized external genital organ of the female worshiped as a symbol of a goddess in Hinduism, measured 82cm in width and 53cm in height. It was found near the center of an architecture discovered in the excavation.
The trace of the architecture is the foundation and a small part of the remaining brick wall. The distance from the yoni statue to the wall is about three meters.
“We are unable to exactly evaluate the unearthed architecture,” said Dr. Bui Chi Hoang. “But it may be the architecture of Siva temple worshipping the Linga-Yoni statue. It was a pity that we haven’t found the Linga statue. Unlike other Siva temples which often locate in the west of Cham towers, the temple was found in the west of Duong Long towers.”
Around the excavated area, archaeologists also found many statues of priests with the height of 0.6-1.2 meters. All were skillfully sculpted with distinctive features, used for decoration.
Among hundreds of items found in the excavation, there were also two carambola-shaped stone pyramids which have never been seen.
Restore or continue the excavation?
Three excavations of Duong Long towers revealed many new, valuable discoveries, helping the restoration in the future.
The 2006’s excavation helped find the measure to restore the foundation of the towers. The second one in 2007 made the structure of the foundation clearer and unearthed other works around the towers. This year’s excavation once again showed the variety of the works and discovered many valuable items.
Now, the issue is that the excavation should be stopped for the restoration or continued for new discoveries. This needs careful consideration. The Duong Long towers are an architectural complex among Cham towers in Binh Dinh, but at present they can’t be effectively explored because all are still in chaos.
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