Cham architecture

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The architecture of the Cham in today's South Vietnam dates back to the 4th century and was influenced by India.

buildings

Initially, in the 4th century , wooden temples were built, but they were destroyed by the Vietnamese in the 7th century . They were rebuilt from the 7th to the 13th centuries , this time using brick or sandstone. King Indravarman II (875–896) moved the capital from Champa to the north, where he founded Indrapura and the Dong Duong monastery. Indrapura was conquered in 982 by Le Hoan, a king of the Lê dynasty , after which the Cham moved their capital to Vijaya. But the Vietnamese repeatedly pushed their way to this point and finally conquered Vijaya in 1471 .
The temple complexes of the Cham are surrounded by an enclosure wall and consist of the actual tower sanctuary, called in the language of the Cham Kalan , a smaller rectangular building to the south of it for storing cult objects ( Kosa grha ) and a flat-roofed, spacious hall ( Mandapa ), in which the cult acts were prepared. Most often you can find the oldest form of complex with three parallel towers, which were dedicated to Brahma , Shiva and Vishnu , whereby a preference for Shiva can be recognized by the fact that the central tower dedicated to him is always the highest. Examples are Chiên Đàn, Khương Mỹ and Hòa Lai. From the 9th century onwards, the greater importance of Shiva is expressed in the construction of only one central Kalan dedicated to him, for example in Đồng Dương and Mỹ Sơn A-1 (Duy Xuyên). At some distance from the temple complex was a pond from which the water for the ablutions of the linga or cult image was fetched.
The Kalan itself depicts the world mountain Meru based on the Indian model . From bottom to top it consists of a square base, the symbol of the material world, a main part with the cella inside, in which the cult figure stood, and the pyramid-shaped roof, the symbol of the spiritual world. While the base is often covered with surrounding high reliefs that emphasize the horizontal and thus make the building appear "stable", the decor of the main part is vertically aligned with pilasters , half-columns and vertical decorative ribbons. The niches between the columns are filled with figurative decorations ( apsaras and devas ). There are high portals on all four sides of the Kalan: three false doors and the main portal, which is mostly open to the east (towards the rising sun) . In the course of time it developed into a lavishly decorated vestibule , to which an often very high staircase leads.

Đà N Relng: relief in the Cham Museum (Trà-Kiệu style)

In Cham art, one differentiates between the following styles, which are named after the places where they were found: Mỹ Sơn E-1 ( 7th century to 8th century ), Hòa Lai (8th to 9th century), Đồng Dương ( 9th century ) , Mỹ Sơn A-1, Trà Kiệu, Chiên Đàn ( 10th century to 11th century ), Tháp Mắm (11th and 12th century to 13th century ) and Yang Mum ( 14th century to 15th century ). Of the former 250 Cham sites, only around 20 to 40 have survived and some of them are only ruins. Most of the best preserved objects are in private collections or museums abroad. In Da Nang (Central Vietnam) there is a Cham Museum (founded in 1915, with almost 2000 exhibits).

Cham sites

Mỹ Sơn, Shiva temple (8th century)
Chiên Đàn (11th century)
Po Nagar (11th / 12th century) in Nha Trang
Linga inside Tháp Đôi (12th / 13th century)
  • Monastery Ðồng Dương
  • The Mỹ Sơn basin (UNESCO World Heritage Site; near Hội An ) was one of the three holy cities of the Cham. Only remnants of 20 of the total of 70 buildings (Hindu temples and royal tombs) that French archaeologists found in the temple valley Mỹ Saln at the end of the 19th century have survived. The rest were mainly destroyed by US bombing during the Vietnam War.
  • In Trà Kiệu (near Hôi An) the first Cham capital Simhapura (from the 4th to the 8th century). Today, where a Cham temple once stood, there is a Catholic church.
  • Chien Đan temple (south of Hôi An), dates from the late 11th and 12th centuries. Of the three sanctuaries built by different kings (each for Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) only remains are left.
  • The three-tower sanctuary Khương Mỹ from the 10th century stands 10 km south of Chien Đan near Tam Kỳ . The tower's floor plan and height differ; the central and southern towers have a vestibule. Little remains of the decor of the brick walls. The Khương-Mỹ style is named after this temple, which is not an autonomous style but contains transitional works between Đồng-Dương and Mỹ-Sơn-A-1 works.
  • Thốc Lốc , located on a hill (4 km east of National Road 1); the French call the temple “la tour d'Or”.
  • Cánh Tiên tower , 20 m high (25 km north of Quy Nhơn , west of National Road 1), called the "Tour de Bronze" by the French, was once the center of Vijaya.
  • Thap Duong Long (ivory towers, near Qui Nhơn), 12th century
  • Thap Bac (Bánh Ít, silver towers; near An Nhơn), a large and two smaller Cham buildings from the 11th / 12th centuries. Century, located on a hill (east of National Road 1). The large one is a temple dedicated to Shiva , Vishnu and Brahma , the small one next to it is a temple dedicated to Agni and the small one on the slope is a library.
  • Chà Bàn (in the district of An Nhơn), built in the 10th century under King Yanpuku, from the 10th to the 15th century the citadel of Vijaya
  • Thap Nhan , almost 20 m high, standing on the 64 m high Nhan Mountain (east of national road 1, north of the river Đà Răng), which was a sacred site of the Cham as early as the 2nd century.
  • Towers of Po Nagar , built from the 7th to the 12th centuries on the marble mountain Cu Lao (north of the Cai River near Nha Trang ). In addition to the main sanctuary, which is also known as the north tower, there is a north-west tower dedicated to Ganesha as well as a central and south tower (for Cri Cambhu and Sandhaka or vice versa) on the plateau. Po Nagar is the name of the mother goddess of the Cham.
  • Hòa Lai towers (14 km north of Phan Rang); Only the two outer kalans with some relief remain, the middle one is missing. At that time they belonged to the Cham Principality of Pan Duranga, which existed halfway independently until the 17th century. The temple was originally designed for Simhavarman III. established, a Cham ruler who successfully fought against the Mongols and was therefore revered as the incarnation of Shiva.
  • Phú Hài (7 km from Phan Thiết ), late 18th century, two towers and some remains of foundations.
  • Po Klong Garai (near Phan Rang ), built at the end of the 13th century under Jaya Simhavarman III, located on a hill overgrown with cacti and thorn bushes, is comparatively well preserved. 21 m high Kalan (tower sanctuary) and three more of the original six towers including a library, the roof of which has buffalo horn-like ends.
  • Pô Rô Mê in the province of Ninh Phước on a hill near the national road 1A.

See also

literature

  • Jean Boisselier : La statuaire du Champa. Research on the cultes et l'iconographie. École Française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris 1963
  • Ngô Vǎn Doanh: Champa: Ancient Towers. The Gioi Publishers, Hanoi 2006
  • Emmanuel Guillon: Cham Art. Treasures from the Dà Nang Museum, Vietnam. Thames & Hudson, London 2001, ISBN 0-500-97593-0
  • Jean-Francois Hubert: The Art of Champa . Parkstone Press International, Bournemouth 2005, ISBN 1-85995-977-6 (9781859959770)
  • Annaliese Wulf: Vietnam. Pagodas and temples in the rice field - the focus of Chinese and Indian culture. DUMONT-Kunstreisführer, DuMont Buchverlag , Cologne 1991, pages 279–296 and 440–441, ISBN 3-7701-2237-2 .

Web links