Crafted from dark gray sandstone, dating back to the 8th-9th century, the Avalokitesvara Statue - a Cham cultural artifact has recently been recognized as a National Treasure.
The Avalokitesvara statue of Bac Binh was accidentally discovered by local people while farming in Thanh Kiet village, Phan Thanh commune, Bac Binh district, Binh Thuan province before 1945 along with 4 other stone statues.
In 1996, the Avalokitesvara statue was buried in the garden of the local people. In 2001, Mr. Ngo Hieu Hoc in Hong Chinh village, Hoa Thang commune, Bac Binh district, Binh Thuan province discovered the statue while digging the foundation to build a gate pillar and handed it over to the Provincial Museum.
The Avalokitesvara statue in Bac Binh is 61cm tall and weighs 13kg. The artifact has been broken from below the ankle and a large part of the right arm, however, the remaining part still fully reflects the basic features.
The outstanding unique feature of the Avalokitesvara statue in Bac Binh is that it has both the typical characteristics of Cham sculpture and a close relationship with the typical stone sculptures of the lower Mekong River, clearly shown in the smooth gray-black sandstone material along with the circular arch structure behind the statue.
Religious plastic arts in general and stone sculpture in particular are among the outstanding achievements of Champa culture. Of these, the number of worship statues dating back to before the 9th century that remain today is not much.
As for the group of round statues that fully reflect the above-mentioned typological and symbolic characteristics, the Avalokitesvara Bac Binh statue is the only one that still exists.
The Avalokitesvara Statue of Bac Binh is a precious and rare historical document, not only a product reflecting the process of cultural exchange but also reflecting the cultural and historical achievements of the Champa people in the process of continuous labor and creativity to create peak development stages and an extremely brilliant architectural and sculptural art in the extremely rich historical and artistic treasure of the Vietnamese people.
In terms of historical value, the Avalokitesvara Bac Binh statue is a typical artifact representing the transformational development process from the 7th-8th century plastic art style to the peak development period of Champa cultural plastic art, which is the Tra Kieu art style (9th century) and Dong Duong art style (9th-10th century).
Based on its own unique characteristics, along with its great historical and cultural value, it can be seen that the Avalokitesvara Bac Binh statue is an important document for the process of researching and assessing the history of formation and development of the South Central region in particular, the historical and cultural appearance of Champa in general, contributing to clarifying the process of Vietnamese cultural history.
The statue has Buddhist elements, besides Hinduism which is considered the main religion in Champa culture, which shows the exchange relationship between India and Southeast Asian countries, including the South Central region of Vietnam from the end of the first millennium AD.
With its historical, cultural and unique value, the Avalokitesvara statue was recognized by the Government as a National Treasure in the 13th phase according to Decision 1712/QD-TTg dated December 31, 2024.
At the ceremony to announce the National Treasure of the Avalokitesvara Statue of Bac Binh according to the Government's recognition decision on the morning of September 14, 2025 at Lam Dong Museum, Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee Dinh Van Tuan stated that in order to protect and effectively exploit the value of this National Treasure, in the coming time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to develop a strict protection plan, ensuring absolute safety for the treasure; regularly inspect and preserve artifacts according to regulations.
The province focuses on promoting and introducing the historical, cultural and scientific values of the Avalokitesvara Statue of Bac Binh, raising public awareness and attracting tourists.
Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage Le Thi Thu Hien requested the units directly managing the National Treasure Avalokitesvara Statue of Bac Binh to strictly follow the principles, procedures and preservation techniques under the guidance of scientists and experts; build attractive programs and content, diverse forms, easy to disseminate and easy to access to promote the value of the national treasure to the general public./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/kham-pha-tuong-avalokitesvara-bac-binh-bao-vat-quoc-gia-che-tac-bang-sa-thach-post1062359.vnp
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