File:0040223 My Son Group A, Cham Hindu temples complex, Vietnam 175.jpg

English: Group A is also called Thap Chua. The group includes 19 ruined structures. The Group A monuments were in good state until 1969, when at a time of escalating Vietnam war, the US ordered a B52 bomber to drop numerous bombs on the My Son site. The Group A temples were among those badly damaged and lost to history.

Except for the massive stone Shiva linga that survived the bombing, the high temples of My Son A group were destroyed during the war. Henri Parmentier and pre-1960 scholarly publications are now the memories of Group A monuments.

Group A have the clearest view of the most sacred mountain of the Cham people.

Overview: Mỹ Sơn is one of the largest historic, archaeological and cultural sites in southeast Asia. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vietnam, it served as a major religious and political center of the Champa Kingdom between the 4th and 14th centuries. My Son site has spiritual roots in 1st–millennium Hinduism whose artistic interpretation evolved with Cham heritage and ideas.

My Son sanctuary is located in the Duy Xuyen District of Quang Nam Province, in central Viet Nam. It is set within a valley surrounded by mountains, one of whom resembles the legendary Mount Meru and Kailasha. This is where the sacred Thu Bon river starts, then irrigates one of the heartland of Champa regions before meeting the South China Sea near famed historic port and economic center of Hoi An.

My Son is the largest Champa site, whose history can be traced to the Dua people. They, inspired by Hinduism, founded Champapura in late 2nd century (192 CE). These thereafter came to be known as Champa or Cham people. The oldest structures at My Son are from the 4th century. Over time, well over 100 Hindu shrines and structures were built here, mostly to the Shiva tradition – the Cham state religion, but also to Vishnu, Durga, Krishna and others. The site, at times, attracted syncretic Hindu-Mahayana Buddhist ideas.

The My Son site is spread over miles, was predominantly built with bricks, and either face east or west. The site is archaeologically studied in many Nhoms (groups) – Group A ithrough Group M. Group B–C–D (Thap Cho) are together, built over 4th to 13th century near the confluence of two major river streams, and form the largest group of shrines. Group E–F (Thap Ho Khe) are also together, dated to about the 7th-century, distinctive for the Vallabhi and Kalan architecture. Group A (Thap Chua) is the most magnificent structures built from 5th century onwards and dedicated to Shiva. Group G, H, L, M are isolated. Many of the isolated sites are rarely visited except by archaeologists and devout Cham pilgrims. The My Son site was in good state of preservation through the colonial era. However, the site was badly damaged in the wars that followed, particularly the Vietnam war of 1960s and early 1970s, which left numerous bomb craters midst different groups of historic monuments. Only 71 structure ruins now survive. My Son ruins and shelled structures continue to provide archaeological evidence of rich cultural history, as well as exceptional artistic accomplishment of the Vietnamese people and trade networks in southeast Asia.