Thap Mam Gallery
Thap Mam is the name of a ruined Cham site located in Nhon Thanh Commune, An Nhon District, Binh Dinh Province. A large-scale excavation was conducted at this location in 1934, unearthing the foundations of a complex with multiple towers within an enclosed area. The site of Thap Mam has been dated to around the 12th–13th centuries CE.
The volume of artifacts collected during the 1934 excavation reached 58 tons, including large-scale statues and numerous stone architectural decorations. Another excavation conducted here in 2011 led to the discovery of additional similar artifacts. The artistic style of the objects retrieved from the Thap Mam site is characterized by complexity and meticulous detail, yet exhibits formulaic patterns lacking fluidity and dynamism. The term “Thap Mam” was subsequently adopted to denote a Cham artistic style sharing the same characteristics as this group of artifacts.
Following the Thap Mam period, Cham sculptural art gradually entered a phase of decline.