The Champa Kingdoms

 

The people of this civilization were the Cham ( see history of Viet Nam), who today live scattered around settlements in South Vietnam and Cambodia. They numbered around 75,000 in the southern part of Vietnam after the census in 1984.

The French rediscovered the overgrown temple city of My Son as late as 1898, and until the middle of the 20th century the culture of the Champa kingdoms was largely accessible only to French researchers, with the result that the majority of publications were written in French.

To judge from the surviving statues, the Champa kingdoms were predominately Hindu, and Shivaist at that; the Buddhist period lasted from the 8th to the 10th century. In the temple cities of My Son and Po Nagar, there lingams devotion to the phalus of Shiva. These lingams are symbols both of the cult of Shivaism, and also of the divine authority of kingship, which Shiva was thought to confer on a king through the agency of a priest.

Lingam on a stone

8th century AD, My Son.

Temple city of My son- 4th - 13th century, My Son. Temple city were originally constructed about 30 kms (18 miles) from the capital.

 

 

The Champa temple towers were always built on hills, a strategic site to survey the surrounding area. Principally, however, these locations were chosen because they were regarded as the focus of magic powers, especially suitable for meditation and religious observance.

As can be seen, the doorways into Cham towers are shaped like vulva. Like the central lingam, this could be interpreted as fertility symbol, or perhaps as a symbol of the security of the mother's womb.

This distinctive tower is built in the Bin Dinh style, which was strongly influenced by Khmer architecture. Of the original six buildings only four remain today. The french called this tower the Tour d'Argent, the "Silver Tower".

 Banh It

11th - 12th century, Bin dinh style. Brick with inlaid sandstone elements, north of Quy Nhon, by Bin Dinh, South Vietnam.

 

 

Po Nagar (Thap Ba in Vietnamese) was mentioned as early as the 7th century AD.; the last building, however, was not built until the 13th century. Originally the temple was edicated to Uroja, the mother goddess of the Cham. The lingam interior, however shows that Shivaist rituals were also performed there.

The temple was destroyed by the Javanese in AD. 774 and again by the Khmer in AD. 930, but was always rebuilt. It is only temple that was in use right up to present day, visited both the Vietnamese and the Cham.

To the left the main tower (9th century), in the middle the southern tower built in the 12 th century, to the right the so-called west tower.

The temple group Po Nagar - 7th -13th centuries, Po Nagar.