Temple architecture in Champa (central and southern Vietnam)

“The earliest mention of Champā-deśa is in that passage of the Rāmāyaṇa where it is stated that king Sugrīva sent out emissaries in search of Sītā, stolen by Rāvaṇa. The king Aśoka’s messengers also may have visited the country of Champa. According to the Arakanese traditions, the first king of Champa was the son of a king of Benaras, who settled at Rāmāvatī the present Rāmbyi [Rambyi] or Ramri. According to another tradition, the first Indian kings of Champa were known as the Kauṇḍinya of the lunar race. Mainly on the basis of the Vo-chanh inscription in Sanskrit of the second or third century of the Christian era, it is clear that Champa had already been under a Hindu or ‘Hinduized dynasty’. Dr. R. C. Majumdar takes Sri Mara as the first historical Hindu king of Champa. The Cham temples have been found in groups at Myson, Dong Duong, Po-Nagar, and Pho Hai areas, and individually at Binh Lam Khuong My, and Beng An”—Acharya.

Percy Brown says that these structures indicate, by their architectural treatment that the building art of the Chams was an independent regional movement but evidently of Indian ancestory,

“M. Parmentier has made a technical classification of all these monuments under five headings. What he calls the ‘primitive art’ is represented by the Myson and the Po Nagar temples of the seventh and the first quarter of ninth centuries respectively. The ‘cubic art’, deriving its name from the cube-shaped roof of the temples, is represented by the Myson temples of the eighth century, Po Nagar temple of the late ninth century, and the Dong Duong temple of the same period. The ‘mixed art,’ deriving its title from a combination of ‘primitive’ proportions and ‘cubic’ roof, is represented by the Dong Duong temple; of the late ninth century. The ‘classic art’ is so called because of the architectural formula followed in the representation of the Myson temple of mid-eleventh century. The ‘pyramidal art’ derives its title from its pyramidal form, as represented by the Bang An temple of the earliest tenth century, Po Nagar temple of the late twelfth century, and the Yan Pron temple of the fourteenth century. Lastly, what is called the ‘derived art,’ has departed from the recognized canons of the classical art and is represented by the Myson temples of the twelfth century, the Po Khaun Garai of the fourteenth century, and Po Rome of the mid-seventeenth century—Acharya”.

The Myson temples have been divided into some ten groups—vide Dr. Acharya’s Summary H.A.LA. p. 331-32. The deities installed in these temples include besides the phallus of Śiva, Gaṇeśa, Skanda, Brahma, Sūrya, Indra and other gods and goddesses also.