The male elephant statue is tall, big and made simpler than the female elephant (Photo: Doan Cong).
The male elephant statue is 2m high, 2.4m long, 1m wide, and weighs regarding 800kg. The statue is carved in a dynamic position, standing on a rectangular monolithic stone pedestal, the left legs are stepping forward.
The elephant’s head is raised high, the trunk is hanging down as if using the trunk to pull up a tree – a popular image in the art of Champa elephant sculpture.
Male elephants are carved according to the popular image in Cham sculpture (Photo: Doan Cong).
According to local people, on Tet holidays, not only people in the area but also many people from far away, even in other provinces, also come to admire the two stone elephants.
Ms. Phan Thi Trong (88 years old), who sells water nearby every day, said that she has lived here for more than 70 years and has seen two elephant statues placed here. People believe that these two stone elephants are like “two gods” here protecting and protecting the villagers.
Binh Dinh currently has 11 artifacts recognized as national treasures. Among these, there are 6 national treasures on display at Binh Dinh Museum, including: relief of goddess Mahishasuramardini, relief of god Brahma, relief of goddess Sarasvati, relief of Goddess Ma Chua (same era in the world) twelfth century); pair of reliefs of the god Garuda to kill snakes (dating from the 12th – XIV centuries);
Pair of guardian statues dating from the 12th – 13th centuries kept at Nhan Son pagoda, Nhon Hau commune (An Nhon town); The statue of Shiva dating from the 15th century is kept at Linh Son pagoda, Nhon Hoi commune (Quy Nhon city) and a pair of stone elephants from Do Ban citadel have just been recognized.
