The government announced this week an investment of 6 million VND to restore the 2,000-year-old cultural site Oc Eo in the Mekong Delta region in hopes of converting the place into a tourist destination. 
The restoration work on parts of the Oc Eo culture vestiges located in Tien Giang province may be completed in two years, said officials.

According to historians, the “Oc Eo city” used to be located on 4,500 hectares of areas which are now the Mekong Delta provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Tien Giang and Dong Thap Muoi.

With many tourists paying an interest in exploring the remnants of the ancient city, many of the Mekong provinces have started launching activities to promote the Oc Eo vestiges.

Celebrating the Oc Eo culture

The country has already held many exhibitions to show the Oc Eo culture to tourists and locals in the past.

Two months ago, the Department of Culture and Information in An Giang province decided to construct an exhibition house of Oc Eo artifacts on Ba The Mountain, 300 meters above sea level, in Vong The commune of Thoai Son district.

According to authorities, a 500-square meter exhibition house will display ancient relics of the 2,000-year-old culture including statues, production tools and decorative objects made of gold, black brass, wood, stone and terra cotta.

Before that in June 2004, artifacts of the Oc Eo ancient culture were on display at Vietnam’s historical museum in Ho Chi Minh City in order to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the discovery of Oc Eo culture by French archaeologist Louis Malleret.

In the 1940s, following Mallaret’s excavations, many artifacts were discovered to belong to the culture dating back to first century A.D. including a variety of ceramics, Persian trade goods, Indian pottery and Roman coins.

The Oc Eo is an archaeological term that refers to the Funan state where Hinduism and Buddhism from India strongly influenced the culture and religious beliefs of the people.  It was overthrown by one of its dependent states, Chenla, in the early seventh century, but details of how the Funan Empire weakened remains unclear.

According to archaeologists, Funan, the Chinese pronunciation derived from the word "bnam" (or phnom in modern Khmer) meaning "mountain", was a prosperous maritime trading nation in Southeast Asia 2,000 years ago. (Source: Viet Nam News Agency, Thanh Nien staff – Compiled by Quynh Nhu.)