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The Spiritual Value of the Mother Goddess Worship Belief for the Cham Community

Graduation thesis of Hai Phong Private University

- Goddess Po Inư Nagar Hamu Marau (Raglai people - Ninh Thuan)

- Goddess Po Inư Nagar Hamu Marom (Marom- Raglai-Ninh Thuan)

- Goddess Po Inư Nagar Hamu Parik (Phan Ri - Binh Thuan)

- Goddess Po Inư Nagar Hamu Pajai (Long Song - Binh Thuan)

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It can be said that, at present, along the central strip of land, wherever there are traces of Cham people living, there are temples to worship the great mother goddess of the land Po Inư Nagar, of which the two largest temples are Hon Chen Temple in Hue and Po Inư Nagar Tower in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa. In particular, in Ninh Thuan, there are two Po Inư Nagar temples: Po Inư Nagar Hamu Ram Temple (Huu Duc - Ninh Thuan) and Po Inư Nagar Hamu Kut Temple (Binh Nghia - Ninh Thuan). Currently, the two temples in Ninh Thuan are worshiped and offered sacrifices by Cham people every year and have become the second largest pilgrimage site after Po Inư Nagar Tower in Nha Trang[35].

The Spiritual Value of the Mother Goddess Worship Belief for the Cham Community

1.2.3. Worship rituals

Every year at Po Inư Nagar temple, Cham people often pray for the following 4 types of ceremonies:

The temple opening ceremony (Péhmbang yang) in the beginning of the first month of the Cham calendar is to pray to the mother goddess of the land to help the villagers dig ditches, plow, sow, and have a good harvest.

The Yuer yang prayer ceremony at Po Inư Nagar temple in the fourth month of the Cham calendar is to pray to the mother goddess of the land for favorable weather.

The Kate Festival is held in the 7th month of the Cham calendar to commemorate Cham gods such as Po Kalong Garai and Po Rome, but still pray at Po Inư Nagar temple.

Cambur Festival, this is the official worship ceremony of the Cham Goddess Po Inư Nagar. The festival is held in the ninth month of the Cham calendar. During this festival, in addition to the costume procession, temple opening ceremony, statue bathing ceremony, grand ceremony (offering rice, wine, fruits) and the festival, there is also the incense procession, fertility dance, rice offering and many ceremonies to pray for children, fortune, luck.

Graduation thesis of Hai Phong Private University. The goddess worship ceremony in Po Inư Nagar Hamu Kut - Binh Nghia is simple.

simpler, only worship once a year in the first month of the Cham calendar.

In the four ceremonies to worship the Mother Goddess of Po Inư Nagar mentioned above, although the ceremonies are held at different times and have different names, the rituals and content of the ceremonies are similar[4], [16], [31].

1.2.4. Spiritual value of the Mother Goddess worship for the Cham community

In folklore, the Mother of the Land Po Inư Nagar and later the Holy Mother Thien YA Na not only exist and circulate in the people's consciousness but also spread and influence the people's daily life and livelihood. The Nguyen Dynasty kings have repeatedly bestowed royal decrees on the Holy Mother Thien Y at Po Nagar Tower and in temples in Khanh Hoa villages, as a Supreme Goddess with the name Thien Lang. In many pagodas, people also worship her and consider her as the goddess of fortune of the land of Agarwood. For the Cham people, Po Inư Nagar is the embodiment of all the gods in spiritual life. In the 37 major worshiping rituals of the Cham people, there is not a single worshiping ritual that does not include this Goddess.

Because of such an important position in cultural and spiritual life, the Cham people worshiped the goddess as the great Mother Goddess of the land. In each region, each place, the Cham people built many beautiful temples and towers to worship the Goddess. Through some steles, songs, and worshiping customs, we not only see the Cham people offering gifts, gold, silver, jewels, clothes, umbrellas, palanquins with many beautiful patterns to the goddess (four-petal flowers, embossed rice grain patterns representing the goddess and only the goddess can wear dresses with this type of pattern), but the Cham people also have hymns to worship the goddess with beautiful, glossy lyrics, beautiful words such as agarwood, fruits, white rice grains, fields, gardens, buffaloes, flying storks... to sing to tell about the goddess. Those words were born by the goddess to carry the names of lands, regions, rivers, mountains with natural images. It is these words that form and condense

Graduation thesis of Hai Phong Private University, a beautiful image of the country associated with national and ethnic boundaries, evoking

depicting a prosperous, peaceful and quiet country of the ancient Cham people.

For the Cham people, the role of Goddess Po Inư Nagar is especially important. She taught the Cham people how to grow rice and weave cloth. She is a goddess of creative power. She supported the Cham people in the first steps of their nation-building process. The image of Po Inư Nagar as the miraculous Mother has erased all religious barriers, so regardless of the religion, she plays an important role in the spiritual life of the Cham community. She is worshiped independently and has become a sacred symbol.

In other words, the image of Po Inư Nagar has become the convergence point, the most beautiful common image among all gods and a common symbol of Mother worship in the matriarchal life of the Cham people that they still pray and worship every year. And so, the image of Po Inư Nagar has truly been deeply ingrained in the minds of all Cham people for generations from the past to the present.

1.3. Introduction to Po Nagar Tower relic


Yang Po Inư Nagar or Yang Po Ana Gar (Inư, Ana in Cham, Ede, Jarai means Female) (full name is Po Inư Nagar, also known as Po ANagar) is a Cham temple located on the top of a small hill about 10-12 meters above sea level, at the mouth of Cai River (Nha Trang River) in Nha Trang, about 2 km north of the city center, now in Vinh Phuoc ward. The name "Po Inư Nagar Tower" is used to refer to the entire architectural work, but in fact it is the name of the largest tower about 23 meters high. [19], [22].

1.3.1. Construction history


During the process of existence and development, the ancient Cham Pa residents left behind a huge amount of cultural heritage, both material and spiritual, on the strip.

Graduation thesis of Hai Phong Private University, Central and Central Highlands region today. Achievements of culture

Champa is fully and typically expressed in many fields: the art of building temple and tower architecture; the art of sculpture; inscriptions; writing; religion and beliefs...

Along with My Son Sanctuary in the North, Po Nagar Tower in the South is a brilliant architectural symbol of the Champa Kingdom. During the Panduranga Dynasty of the Hoan Kingdom, the Cham people built temples on Cu Lao Hill in Kauthara to worship the Goddess Po Nagar, the Mother of the Cham people, commonly known as Po Nagar Tower. The relic was built between the 8th and 13th centuries. This temple was built during the period when Hinduism was flourishing, when Po Nagar was also becoming the holy land of Southern Champa, from a Shiva temple, to the Mother of the Champa Kingdom temple, so the goddess statue has the shape of Uma, Shiva's wife. Since the 17th century, the work has been used and preserved by the Vietnamese as an indispensable part of their spiritual life.

The temple complex holds a particularly important position in the religious and spiritual life of the Cham people. Each structure contains the artistic quintessence of Champa culture. With its typical historical, cultural, scientific and artistic values, in 1979, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) ranked the Ponagar Tower relic as a national relic.

Restoration process


The architectural works here have been through more than a thousand years and have been affected by nature, humans, and wars. From the beginning of the 20th century until now, Ponagar Tower has undergone several restorations. The first restoration was carried out by the French in the 1930s. The most obvious mark of this restoration was the cement plastered bricks. Then, in the 1990s,

The graduation thesis of Hai Phong Private University, we have continued to restore and preserve the ancient towers. The recent restoration

especially in 2010 in the South Tower.


The relic has always been concerned with preserving and promoting the value of tangible and intangible cultural heritage; restoration work is carried out regularly and has become a center of religious activities for people in the South Central and Central Highlands regions, especially every year on the occasion of the Po Nagar Tower Festival taking place from the 21st to the 23rd of the third lunar month, many pilgrims come to attend the ceremony. It can be said that the Po Nagar Tower relic site in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa is the convergence point of traditional values ​​of the Vietnamese - Cham exchange process in history, a symbol of national unity, contributing to the factors of community cohesion of the Vietnamese ethnic groups today and an indispensable destination for every tourist when coming to Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa. Through the festival, it is also an opportunity for domestic and foreign tourists, researchers to learn more about the history, about the traditional cultural beauty of the people and land of Khanh Hoa.

1.3.2. Main architectures in the Po Nagar Tower complex


Ponagar Tower is a large architectural complex and is distributed on 3 levels: Gate Tower, MandaPa and the temple tower area. Due to historical fluctuations, the relic site currently has 5 remaining architectural works on two levels: MandaPa (vestibule) and the Temple Tower Area above.

MandaPa (Vestibular)


MandaPa area: has four rows of large columns built of baked bricks, including 10 large columns inside and 12 small octagonal columns outside. Through research, scientists believe that this is an open-walled architecture with a roof made of light materials, because on each large column, corresponding to the height of the small column, there is a "mortise hole". Over time, there are no traces of the roof of MandaPa. Researchers believe that this could be where believers prepare offerings before going up to perform rituals at the temples above.

Graduation thesis of Hai Phong Private University Going up to worship at the temples above, believers must follow the steps.

very steep. They had to crawl, holding on to the steps above so as not to fall backwards and when going down they had to walk backwards with their backs facing down, this way of walking could be to show respect to the gods worshiped above. Over time, this path has collapsed, making it more difficult to walk, so the ancients opened a side path, following the hillside up to the tower, this new path is less steep, easier to walk with steps built of split stone.

Previously, on the east side of MandaPa, there were two small pillars, lower than the ground, on both sides of the MandaPa steps (now gone, only traces remain) and straight to the main gate (old gate - now gone). The gate, MandaPa and the Main Tower above form a straight east-west axis, like the sacred axis of Po Nagar. When restoring the relic, people discovered steps leading up to MandaPa and straight to the former main gate of the relic. “While exposing the ground for restoration, a road and a row of steps leading up to the middle room of the pillar building were exposed on the east side. The row of steps has four steps, 1.20m high, 1.40m wide; the road is 7.40m long, 2.60m wide (the width of the road is exactly the same as the width of the steps), located 9.80m from the east wall of the pillar house architecture and continues east to the gate (no longer there) of the temple area”[1].

The above findings are a source of data that contributes to affirming the spiritual axis of Po Nagar: Gate - MandaPa - steps leading up to the temple tower area - Main tower and affirming the central position of the tower worshiping the Mother of the land - Goddess Po Nagar of the ancient kingdom of Champa[19], [21].

Temple area:


According to historical records and field surveys, this temple complex has a total of six towers. In addition to the four existing towers, there are two towers in the back area, but now only the foundations of the old towers remain. The Cham people call the towers Kalan, which means temple or tower in Vietnamese.

Graduation thesis Hai Phong Private University The Cham towers here are built on a square plan. Each

Each tower has four doors in the four directions: east, west, south, and north. The three doors in the three directions of west, south, and north are just fake windows. The east door alone opens and extends like a lobby.

Northeast Tower


The Main Tower is about 23m high. According to researchers, the Main Tower was first built in the years 813 - 817 and after experiencing historical events, the tower was rebuilt around the middle of the 11th century.

The tower body is decorated with 5 rows of vertical pillars. The four corners of the roof have four small towers with 3 roof levels gradually decreasing towards the top. The roof system of the tower is likened to Mount Meru, the abode of the gods, with five mountains, the highest of which is the middle peak. The roof system is decorated with mascots such as elephants, geese, goats, etc., representing very vivid religious concepts.

On the archway is a stone relief in the shape of a Bodhi leaf depicting the god Shiva with four dancing arms, flanked by two flute musicians, Shiva’s right foot resting on the back of the sacred bull Nandin. The characters are depicted in the Bodhi leaf with graceful, lively and very charming movements. The relief dates back to the 11th century and is one of the most beautiful reliefs of the Champa culture still preserved in Vietnam.

On the stone pillars at the door are inscriptions engraved in Sanskrit and ancient Cham scripts recording the construction of the temple and the offerings of the Cham kings, lords and royal family to the Goddess and the Goddess' blessing to all people.

Quoting an inscription: The Goddess of Kauthara, whose body is radiant with beauty and whose robe is of perfect gold, whose face is radiant and beautiful like a lotus flower and whose cheeks are radiant with the light of precious gems, has always blessed all who kneel before her in prayer.

Graduation thesis Hai Phong Private University Inside the tower is a square shrine, in the middle is a statue of the Goddess.

Ponagar - is the soul of the relic. This is also the statue of Uma (wife - the negative manifestation of Shiva), until the 17th century, the Vietnamese continued to preserve and worship Thien Y Thanh Mau. Influenced by Vietnamese beliefs, the statue is now wearing outer clothes. On both sides are altars for Co and Cau.

In the tower, on each false door there are small triangles carved deep into the wall. This is where the temple's oil lamps are placed, because in the past, the Cham people only lit lamps, burned incense, and offered water... Due to the influence of Vietnamese cultural beliefs, incense smoke has blackened the walls of the relic.

South Tower


The tower is 18m high, the second largest in the entire architectural complex of the Ponagar temple complex. The tower has a relatively unique roof in the Ponagar Tower complex. The base and body of the tower are still built according to the traditional Cham tower motif, but the roof is reduced to a single top layer, extending upwards, with a linga pillar on top. The tower dates back to the 13th century.

This is the place to worship Shiva. According to Vietnamese legend, this is called Ong tower, worshiping the husband of Thien YA Na.

Southeast Tower


This is the smallest tower. The tower is simply built, 7.1m high and the exterior has been badly damaged. The roof is built in the shape of a saddle (boat shape), a familiar boat-shaped roof shape of the islanders of Southeast Asia. This may be a secondary structure in this architectural complex and belongs to the late type, around the 11th - 12th century. The tower worships the god Skandha - the son of Shiva, the god symbolizing strength and war. According to local legend, the tower worships Mr. and Mrs. Tieu, the adoptive parents of Thien YA Na Thanh Mau.

Northwest Tower

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