A forgotten relic in Vinh Long Province

When I was a child my world was the homeland around Cau Ke Market in Tra Vinh Province, green or yellow paddy fields waiting for the harvest season. It was not until my father took me to Ba Mi or Huu Thanh Commune in Vinh Long Province that I had the chance to see the ancient charnel house of Huynh Ky, one of ten notorious landlords of the Mekong Delta region a long time ago. For many years this beautiful relic has remained in my mind as the wonder of my home country.

My brother used to tell me about the house when he went to play there. Located on a high mound, people from the main street could reach the charnel house on a gravel road bordered with two lines of lanterns, like bodyguards protecting a royal palace. Sometimes, a mild fragrance from the many mango trees around the house filled the air. There was also a swimming pool on the man-made hill.

My childhood had passed by the time I had another opportunity to visit the mysterious and solemn place. Now the gravel road has been replaced with asphalt, and the house has become a forgotten ruin.

Situated on a high floor, the charnel house includes a hexagonal tower surrounded by five similar towers. From afar, the towers look like a Western castle with pointed roofs, as high as 12 meters. The tower in the center is the last resting place of landlord Huynh Ky and his two wives.

Khmer pagoda features can also be found at the corners of the outer walls of the towers by a bird-headed genie lifting the dome. The inside surface is engraved or painted carefully with many patterns, even on the ceiling.

In 1944, architect Tran Cong Quan and workers from Soc Trang and Ben Tre provinces spent three years reconstructing the special building from local bricks, stones and cement from Haiphong City. It is designed with a mixture of architectural styles from China, France, Kinh and Khmer ethic groups.

As Huynh Ky’s offspring have lived overseas for many years, the building has been devastated by time and local residents. The three graves, the main entrance and wall patterns are considerably damaged to. I myself am disappointed at the asphalted road which was not built for preserving the house but for easier traveling to the dumping ground nearby.

Watching a beautiful relic of the homeland turn into a ruins, I regret that the cultural and architectural building might one day no longer exist.

Source SGT