A view of the My Son sanctuary. A webinar on the culture meet between India and Vietnam was held virtually today, August 18 - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – The India-Vietnam friendship is very special because of the connect between the two peoples, apart from the artifacts and temples, heard a virtual webinar on the culture meet between India and Vietnam on August 18.

Le Thi Hang Nga, deputy editor in chief of the Journal for Indian and Asian Studies, told the webinar that people were an important aspect of the culture meet between India and Vietnam as people are the creators of culture.

It is significant that as India is celebrating its 75th Independence Day, Vietnam and India are also celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations.

The Vietnam-India Friendship Associations in Hanoi, HCMC and Danang have also been very active in strengthening people-to-people connections between the two countries, Nga noted.

At the webinar, Professor Amarjiva Lochan, Dy. Dean of International Relations at the University of Delhi, said the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities had plans to intensify its study of India at its Department of Indology. The department will admit 16 students each year instead of every two years.

Apart from standard subjects, students of the program are learning Hindi as well as Indian geography, history, philosophy, culture and foreign policy.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Dr. Dang Van Thang, head of the Faculty of Archeology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities – Vietnam National University, HCMC, and standing vice chairman of the HCMC Historical Science Association, spoke about archaeological excavations and the restoration of Hindu relics at the My Son sanctuary in Quang Nam province.

He said the My Son sanctuary, including nine groups of Hindu temples, are considered the holy land of the Champa Kingdom.

Indian and Vietnamese archaeologists have also collaborated to restore the My Son sanctuary. The materials used comprise old and new bricks suitable for each location. For the lower layer and wall, core, lime, sand and brick powder are used.

Dr. Phan Anh Tu, director of the Center for Theoretical and Applied Culturology at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, introduced the Indian temples in HCMC, which have proved their role during the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Existing for over a decade, these temples have become the spiritual sites of many people in HCMC and the southern region as a whole, Tu added.