The Champa kingdom came into being in the late 2nd century C.E. Its territories stretched from south of the Ngang Pass to the Dong Nai basin (approximately between latitudes 11 N and 18 N degree), and included the coastal plains and the interior highlands in Central Vietnam today.
Because of its geographic location, Champa came to hold an increasingly important role in South China Sea trade, part of the trading route between the West and the East. The Champa kingdom became a powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia.
Hinduism and Buddhism was introduced to Champa about the 4th century. During the 7th century the Chinese pilgrim Yi-Jing noted that some branches of Hinayana Buddhism existed; however, the 7th to 10th centuries saw the gradual expansion of Mahayana Buddhism.
Between the 8th and the 11th/12th centuries, there were two major sanctuaries of Champa courts that reflected the Champa cosmological cults. They were My Son and Po Nagar Nha Trang. My Son sanctuary was located in a deep valley surrounded by high mountain ranges, whereas Po Nagar Nha Trang sanctuary was located on a riverside hill near an estuary. My Son was in the northern Amaravati State where the God Bhadresvara (symbolically father/mountain/areca) was worshipped; and Po Nagar Nha Trang was built in the south, part of Kauthara State where the Goddess Bhagavati (Po Yang Inu Nagar/ mother/ sea/coconut) was worshipped.
Nowadays, the Cham people in south-central Vietnam are divided into two groups: Ahier (Brahminist) and Awar (Bani, old Islamic).
This talk will discuss the significance of the religious sites of the Champa kingdom in the context of the dual cosmological cult in order to understand its arts and architecture and its influence on the daily life of the Cham people in present time.
About the speaker:
Tran Ky-Phuong is the former curator of the Danang Museum of Champa Sculpture, Danang, Vietnam, where he worked from 1978 until 1998. He is currently a senior researcher of the Vietnam Association of Ethnic Minorities’ Culture and Arts. Through the support of The Toyota Foundation and SEASREP (Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program) he has conducted field research on the architectural sites of Champa in Central Vietnam, and also worked on sites in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia. He has published several books and articles in Vietnamese, English and Japanese.
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