Bang An Tower is located in Dien An Ward (Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam), 14km from Hoi An and about 27km from Da Nang City.
According to researchers, the tower was built around the 10th century, and was used as a place of worship and sacrifice. Inside the shrine to Lord Shiva (symbolized by Linga). Compared to the rest of the Cham towers, Bang An tower has a unique architecture. This is the only octagonal tower left to this day in Vietnam.
The tower structure consists of 2 parts: the lobby and the shrine. The vestibule is quite long, the main door faces east, there are side doors (in 1940, the French restored it into two windows), the base is 3m high, the body consists of vertical wall segments, the roof is a pyramid of four curved sides, gradually shrinking towards the top.
The shrine is nearly 21m high, including three distinct parts: the base, the body and the roof. The base and body of the tower are octagonal, each side is 4m long. The tower wall is flat, without false doors, wall pillars and decorative patterns. The roof of the tower is pyramidal, similar to the roof of the vestibule but larger.
From a distance, the shrine of Bang An tower looks like a huge Linga block, while the ground of the entire tower resembles the image of Yoni.
In front of the main gate of the tower, there are two statues of Gajasimha (lion elephants) made of sandstone wearing rattles, which are two guardian deities who protect the tower.
Bang An Tower is considered one of the largest remaining brick sculptures of the once brilliant Champa culture . Although the architecture is quite simple, the decorative motifs are not sophisticated, but this is always considered one of the most beautiful and strange Cham towers.
Over thousands of years of history, Bang An tower still stands there despite the ups and downs of the times, even though the sun and rain, storms and floods and wars have damaged some details. Along with My Son holy place and other Cham towers, Bang An tower is a beautiful and precious religious, cultural and artistic architectural work left by the Cham people.
Located near Da Nang and Hoi An, Bang An Tower is a place that tourists should not miss on their journey to discover unique cultural, spiritual and artistic tourism destinations in Quang Nam.
Source: VNN