In what has come as a big development, the Archeological Survey of India has discovered a monolithic sandstone Shiva linga belonging to the 9th century AD during a conservation project in Vietnam's Quant Nam province. The place is in central Vietnam, where the Cham civilization is believed to have flourished centuries ago.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, sharing the news on Twitter, said, "Reaffirming a civilisational connect. Monolithic sandstone Shiv Linga of 9th CE is the latest find in the ongoing conservation project. Applaud the ASI team for their work at Cham Temple Complex, My Son, #Vietnam. Warmly recall my visit there in 2011."

Centuries after the flourishing of the Cham civilization, says a report published by The Print, "archaeologists continue to discover citadels in this cluster and about 25 temple sites have survived in Vietnam."

Expressing happiness over the news, spiritual exponent Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev writes, "The significance of spiritual sciences of using Form and Sound for accelerated evolution of a human being went way beyond the Indian subcontinent. Congratulations to ASI for unearthing this #Linga of exquisite craftsmanship and spiritual significance."