|
Bình Thạnh Tower
Tháp Bình Thạnh
![]() Street address: Ấp Bình Hòa, Xã Bình Thạnh, Huyện Trảng Bàng, Tỉnh Tây Ninh, Việt Nam
Mailing address: Ban Quản lý Di tích Danh thắng Tỉnh Tây Ninh, Sở Văn hóa Thông tin Tỉnh Tây Ninh, Cách Mạng Tháng 8, Phường 2, Thị Xã Tây Ninh, Tỉnh Tây Ninh, Việt Nam
Telephone: 84 (0) 66 810353
Fax: 84 (0) 66 822320
Contact: Đặng Hoàng Hoạnh Manager
Telephone: 84 (0) 66 810402
Located some 40 kilometres south of Tây Ninh provincial town on the right bank of the Vàm Cỏ Đông River in Bình Hòa Hamlet, Bình Thạnh Village, Trảng Bàng District, Bình Thạnh Tower is one of only three surviving Khmer structures left in Việt Nam. Believed to date from the late 8th-early 9th century, the pre-Angkorian brick and sandstone tower was first recognised as an important vestige by French archaeologist de Laponguière, who in 1911 placed the tower on a list of 14 important monuments in Cochinchina. Minor restoration work was carried out during the 1930s, but little more was done until 1999 when the tower was extensively reconstructed. Located on a raised 1 hectare platform, the structure originally incorporated a second tower (the ruins of which are now preserved under a shelter) and a small stupa (the foundations of which may still be seen next to the ruined tower). The surviving tower features a number of mainly floral bas reliefs and a beautifully carved lintel above the main entrance. The linga-yoni inside the tower is a copy of the one found here in 1999, which is currently stored at the premises of the Tây Ninh Provincial Office of Conservation and Museums. Bình Thạnh Tower was originally part of a wider network of Khmer temples which stretched some 70 kilometres along the banks of the Vàm Cỏ Đông River from the Tây Ninh Province's southern border with Long An Province to the northernmost Tân Biên District, where a second surviving prasat, Chót Mạt Tower, is located. Other Khmer or proto-Khmer vestiges dotted around Tây Ninh Province include four tower bases at Long Khánh and Long Thuận (Bến Cầu District), one tower base at Tiên Thuận (Bến Cầu District), plus as yet unidentified ruins at Phước Chỉ (Trảng Bàng District), Phước Trạch (Gò Dầu District), Thanh Điền (Châu Thành District) and Hiệp Ninh (Hòa Thành District).
Related links: Chót Mạt Tower, Vĩnh Hưng (Trà Long) Tower
|





