VietNamNet Bridge - Visitors to the Museum of Cham Sculpture can view three national treasures that are stored and exhibited in the museum of more than 100 years old located in the heart of Da Nang city.

Tara Bodhisattva statue.

The Museum of Cham Sculpture has more than 2,000 exhibits and groups of exhibits. Of these, more than 500 exhibits and artifacts are on display. Notably, there are three national treasures: the Bodhisattva Tara Statue, the My Son E1 Altar and Tra Kieu Altar. These are unique antiques of Cham Sculpture and each national treasure tells a story about Cham culture with mysterious anecdotes.

Champa was an Indic civilization that flourished along the coasts of what is now central and southern Viet Nam for roughly a one thousand year period between 500 and 1500 AD.

The remnants of classical Cham art extant today are seen mainly in brick temples, sandstone sculptures in the round, and sandstone sculptures in high and low relief. A few bronze sculptures and decorative items made of metal remain as well.

The artistic legacy of Champa consists primarily of sandstone sculptures – both sculpture in the round and relief sculpture – and brick buildings. Some metal statues and decorative items have also survived. Much of the remaining art expresses religious themes, and though some pieces would have been purely decorative, others would have served important functions in the religious life of the Champa, which synthesized elements of Hinduism (especially Saivism), Buddhism and indigenous cults.

1/ Tara Bodhisattva statue

The Tara Bodhisattva statue of 1.15 meters high and bearing gemstones in its eyes and forehead is one of the largest bronze statues characterizing the Dong Duong style of more than 1,000 years ago.

Tara is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the “mother of liberation”, and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements.

The statue demonstrates the traditional art pinnacle of Champa with sophisticated bronze casting techniques and stylish sculpture embodying the culture of Dong Duong. According to the introduction of the museum, the statue was unearthed by people in the commune of Binh Minh in Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province in 1978.

2/ My Son E1 altar

The most famous work of the My Son E1 style is a large sandstone pedestal dated back to the second half of the 7th century. Originally, the pedestal had a religious function, and was used to support a huge lingam as a symbol for Shiva, the primary deity in Cham religion.

The pedestal itself is decorated with relief carvings featuring scenes from the lives of ascetics: ascetics playing various musical instrument, an ascetic preaching to animals, an ascetic receiving a massage. To the Cham, the pedestal symbolized Mount Kailasa, the mythological abode of Shiva which also accommodated numerous forest- and cave-dwelling ascetics, just as the lingam it supported represented the god himself.

The altar was found by Henri Parmentier, Dean of the School of Archaeology of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (French School of the Far East), one of the first founders of the Cham Sculpture Museum in Da Nang today during excavation in the My Son Sanctuary in 1902-1903.

3/Tra Kieu altar

The altar is a typical symbol of the royal citadel of Champa in Tra Kieu.

The Tra Kieu Pedestal, consisting of a base decorated with friezes in bas relief, an ablutionary cistern, and a massive lingam, is regarded as one of the masterpieces of Cham art. The figures on the friezes are especially beautiful, and represent episodes from the life of Krishna as related in the Bhagavata Purana. At each corner of the pedestal, a leonine atlas appears to support the weight of the structure above him.

Compiled by T. Van