Some photos of Cham ruins in present day Danang. I was stunned by its utter beauty.

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Cham artifacts in Danang Museum:

I felt scary because seeing those pictures invoked feeling as if I have lost a best friend. Dead and gone are what was once cherished.

^ Thats exactly how I felt when I was in a tour in My Son. The tour guide took us in a bus to the middle of the jungle--telling us in rough english that we were going to visit the ruins of the 'once mighty Champa Kingdom'. After a good 1-2 hour walk in the jungle..he led us to this:


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In my own view...I say it is Vietnam's hidden treasure. Its hidden and lost past. Its strong, and proud Hindu Malay past.















The erie silence as I walked around the sacred grounds of this once Mighty Cham Capital City was too much for me. I remember breaking in tears. It was a beautiful place. Words and eyes cannot describe the beauty of this place---truly lost in time.

siri, school me on champa....i dont know what it is.

Champa was formed in AD 192, during the breakup of the Han dynasty of China, when the Han official in charge of the region established his own kingdom around the area of the present city of Hue. Although the territory was at first inhabited mainly by wild tribes involved in incessant struggles with the Chinese colonies in Tonkin, it gradually came under Indian cultural influence, evolving into a decentralized country composed of four small states, named after regions of India, Amaravati (Quang Nam), Vijaya (Binh Dinh), Kauthara (Nha Trang), and Panduranga (Phan Rang). The four states had a powerful fleet that was used for commerce and for piracy. The Cham people, of Malayo-Polynesian stock and Indianized culture, were finally united under the rule of King Bhadravarman around 400AD.

In retaliation for Cham raids on their coast, the Chinese invaded Champa in 446, bringing the region under their suzerainty once again. Finally, under a new dynasty in the 6th century, Champa threw off its allegiance to China and entered into an era of great independent prosperity and artistic achievements. In the late 8th century the Chams were distracted by attacks from Java, but in the 9th century they renewed their pressure on the Chinese provinces to the north and the growing Khmer Empire to the west. Under Indravarman II, who established the Indrapura dynasty in 875, the capital of the country was moved to the northern province of Amaravati (Quang Nam), near present Hue, and elaborate palaces and temples were constructed.

In the 10th century the Vietnamese kingdom of Dai Viet, based in Hanoi, began to exert pressure on Champa, forcing it to relinquish Amaravati in 1000 and Vijaya in 1069. Harivarman IV, who founded the ninth Cham dynasty in 1074, was able to stave off further Vietnamese and Cambodian attacks, but in 1145 the Khmers, under the aggressive leadership of Suryavarman II, invaded and conquered Champa. Two years later a new Cham king, Jaya Harivarman I, arose and threw off Khmer rule, and his successor sacked the Cambodian capital at Angkor in 1177. Between 1190 and 1220 the Chams again came under Cambodian suzerainty, and later in the 13th century they were attacked by the Tran kings of Vietnam, as well as by the Mongols in 1284. By the late 15th century, incessant wars of aggression and defense had for all practical purposes wiped out the Champa kingdom; one by one their provinces were annexed until Champa was entirely absorbed in the 17th century.

Sirikittong

This is a beautiful and artful thread. Thank you for reminding us the beautiful cultures of Champa.

thanks siri, interesting. are these cham ppl still around?

Alot of them are in Cambodia, we got a province calls Compong Cham.

I don't think that there are too many left: the Khmer Rouge made a point of wiping them out.

Most left elsewhere after their kingdom collapsed. Some did stay and are today part of Vietnamese's society. A good example is Che Linh, a famouse Vietnamese singer for a long time, is of Cham descendent. Here is his official web site...
http://www.chelinh.com/

Nice Post Sirikittong, and Welcome to this side of the Board.

The Chams weren't all wiped out. Many survived the destruction of their Kingdom, and were absorbed into the Southern Vietnamese Kingdom.

I was answering a Cambodian poster when I said that there aren't many Chams left, given that the Khmer Rouge really had it in for the Chams. I, of course, agree that with your statement as to the fate of the Chams who remained in Vietnam. Many if not most Southern Vietnamese would have inherited some Cham ancestry by now.

Thanks Siri for Cham cultural revisit

They are absolutely architectural magnificent. Unfortunately, only a score of these structures are still remain
and under the preservation of UNESCO as a World Heritage. Most of these structures were destroyed by series of wars especially during the US-Vietnam war. The remnants of The Cham's past glory are collected throughout the central region of Vietnam and are now in the Cham Museum at Danang (in your photos). Most of these artifacts were either stolen by thieves or they were plundered by European freebooters during the Colonial period.

Even most scientists in the world are still baffled by how these structures were built. These stone blocks were put together without any noticeable or traceable gluing agents. Basically, they have no idea of how these stone blocks were assembled and glued.

At the turn of the century, Vietnam was involved in a series of wars that we were set back decades of advancement and economic progress. Therefore, no resources were actually dedicated to study these things.
Hopefully when we are doing better, more resources are dedicated to study these things.

I find Cham arts (architecture, sculptures...) creepy, hence, repulsive. That Cham museum in Da Nang is rumored to be haunted. That must have been the result of those creepy sculptures.

nhác !!! đồ sợ ma !!! lớn rồi mà còn sợ ma

Nói thiệt nghe, tui dòm mấy bức tượng Chăm là muốn đập. Xấu ơi là xấu.

chi mà nói ghê rứa. đẹp rứa mà đòi đập. arun tới Mỹ Sơn chưa? có lần mô thấy tận mắt cái tháp chàm lần mô chưa? thiệt ra hắn củng đẹp lắm. nhìn trong hình thấy bình thường, nhưng ở ngoài thì đẹp.

@ Sirikittong, thank you for those pictures. i went to My Son last summer, and i had the same feeling that u did. very misterious. those pictures remind me lots of Viet Nam.

i didnt go with the tour guide. i just walked into the forest and started taking all kinds of pictures.

Great pics. i'd like to go & see them some day. Master builders just like the Khmers of Angkor.

It was one of my greatests sights in Vietnam, actually. Yes, I enjoyed the sights of an industrializing Vietnam, but if I did not go to Vietnam to see the country's growth (as i would have seen the same thing in Thailand, my homeland). I went to Vietnam last year with my friends to just my friend's family's place. As they were able to visit my place in Phranakorn Sri Ayuthaya--we visited my friend Thanh's family in Sai'gon. Great place--great family--fed us well! LOL.

I noticed something about southern vietnamese---they like spicy food--lol, so i can relate in that aspect.

On that note, here are more pictures of Cham Runis:










The Garuda---Eating the Naga..
Utterly beautiful.


Cham Apsara Dancers.


more to come...

Wow, I am speechless.

If you think the southerners eat/like spicy food, you haven't really been to Huế (city in central region) and see the cuisine there yet, habanero got nothing on them these Huế people eat habanero like candies lol

On a serious note, I wish your friend's family had taken you to visit the countryside of Vietnam. That's where you actually see the authenticity, the charm, and the real faces of Vietnam. Personally I think the cities such as Saigon, Hanoi, Bangkok, etc...are more for tourists and they are the same no matter where ever you go. But that's just my feeling.

By the way, the cuisine in Bangkok and the beach at Pattaya is a treat. I enjoyed every minutes there

Some Glorious Cham Ruins in Nha Trang. The towers in Nha Trang were aesthetically powerful, I felt the Divine God Kings of Champa in its presence--i remember as I toured the sacred grounds of this once Mighty and Powerful Cham city, i could feel a great presence, something following me as I took these pictures.

I prayed many times in front of these ruins, asking that the spirits would rest, and giving thanks and compliments to the beauty of the temples. Telling them, that I, Rathasinakorn Sri Sirikittong, of old noble blood from the region of Phra Nakorn Sri Ayuthaya---of the Ayuthayan people, of the Golden Sri Ayuthayan Empire, give them my spiritual obeiscance and respect. The spirits of Champa are still alive, and I know it. They, like the people of Ayuthaya, are a proud race of people. Even in death, they do not forget that.

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Behold, The Great Kingdom of Champa!

these are the pictures i took last summer at My Son.

The Lords of CHAMPA! The Master Builderse! The Cham people of Vietnam.




Hahahaha so ive been told! Then again Hue region have alot of cham people there! Could that be a reason? As for the countryside, ive visited it, cuteo. Ive visited the rice fields, visited many villages by van--then we were able to take pics and just talk to some of the people (of course my friend thanh was our translator, a thai like me doesnt understand vietnamese) LOL! I know one thing tho---the village folk were always asking questions to me (via thanh's translation) as soon as they found out that I was Thai, lol. I never knew vietnamese were so interested in thailand?

Rural vietnam looks very much like ruran northern thailand. The mannerisms, the way they carry themselves is very humble and respectful, as compared to arrogance of the city folks (bangkok, chiang mai, saigon, etc).

I would definately like to visit northern vietnam next time.

composer and musician Tram Tu Thieng , of Cham descent or partly Cham also

did you really walk around in the ruins or are u just imagining everything even the rough english guides?

Even most scientists in the world are still baffled by how these structures were built. These stone blocks were put together without any noticeable or traceable gluing agents. Basically, they have no idea of how these stone blocks were assembled and glued.
( For those who live in the US , without Lowe's or Home Depot 's help )

the blocks are glued by limes, that is what i heard

The reason these structures are still standing and in pretty good shape is that I wasn't the architect of record, either in this life or previous lives

i remember i read soemone say it was glued by tree sap?

Cham Community in ...

http://ilimochampa.org/

Cham Video

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Ilimochampa&hl=en

vietnamese need to destroy all the cham structures like how the talibans destroy the two buddas in BAMIYAN. there is no more champa. why preserve these for? only preserve stuffs that are vietnamese. anything CHINESE... should be wiped off the map.

Vietnam destroy Cham land, conquer and tooke over their entire state or wipe out everthing, not only that vietnam commit genocide to million Cham people and their suffering under Vietnam rule unbearable till this day. What you said is try to eraze everything relate to Cham people from the history and to make sure Cham people will never know their history or rise up again . Your messsage will shock and hurt too many Cham people plus will make Vietnam look so bad in the eye of the world.

Dude, President Nguyen Van Thieu of the former Republic of Vietnam was an ethnic Cham. The famous Vietnamese singer Che Linh is an ethnic Cham and so does the respectable Vietnamese composer Tu Cong Phung is also an ethnic Cham.

Just to let you know one more thing, during the Vietnam War every ethnic group of Vietnam was required to fulfill their military service in the Republic of Vietnam, but only the ethnic Cham was given preferrential status and they were exempted from military conscription.