Show «Văn nghệ dân gian Chăm tại Mỹ Sơn» (Cham folk arts at My Son)

   In the temple valley of My Son, the paranưng drum and the saranai horn ring out beside Cham dances, and the performers are Cham artists themselves. If you come to My Son, do more than look at the brick towers: time your visit to catch a show and let the heritage speak.

   Every day the My Son World Cultural Heritage Management Board (Ban Quản lý Di sản Văn hóa thế giới Mỹ Sơn) stages seven performances of Cham folk arts:
— five in the performance hall, spread from morning to afternoon
— two outdoors at the foot of the G group of towers, one in the morning and one in the afternoon
— the programme features Apsara dance, traditional music and rituals of Cham culture, according to Da Nang's official tourism portal

   The troupe has six artists, all invited from Ninh Thuan (now part of Khanh Hoa province), raised in Cham culture and carrying on family traditions. In 2002, the first four young artists agreed to come to My Son and stay for good. The troupe includes A Thap Huu Luu (A Thập Hữu Lưu) on the ginăng drum, choreographer and ginăng drummer Thap A Ri Va Ja Day (Thập A Ri Va Ja Day) and saranai player Thien Sanh Vu (Thiên Sanh Vũ), the Bao Da Nang newspaper reports.

   «Champa culture has to be performed by the Cham themselves», Nguyen Cong Khiet (Nguyễn Công Khiết), director of the management board, told Bao Da Nang. Although the artists have been performing here for more than 20 years, he says, he is still moved every time he hears them.

   My Son Sanctuary was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999. According to UNESCO, its tower-temples are the remains of a unique culture that developed between the 4th and 13th centuries, and the site was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of the kingdom's existence. The management board counts more than 70 tower-temple structures in this enclosed valley.

   It suits travellers based in Hoi An or Da Nang who want to understand My Son beyond its brick walls, families with children and anyone discovering Cham culture for the first time.

   The show is included in admission: the entrance ticket covers the My Son Museum, the electric shuttle, the Cham folk performance and the monuments. Tickets cost 100,000 VND for Vietnamese visitors and 150,000 VND for foreign visitors; children aged 5 to 15 buy a 30,000 VND shuttle ticket, and children under 5 enter free. The 9:00 and 14:45 shows are held outdoors at the G group and are paused in bad weather; those at 9:45, 10:30, 11:15, 14:00 and 16:00 take place in the performance hall. My Son is 45 km from Hoi An and 68 km from central Da Nang.

   Contacts: ticket hotline 0963 412 068, email [email protected].

   Make a Cham performance in the temple valley the highlight of your day at My Son.