Ponagar tower is one of the famous tourist attractions in Nha Trang that you must visit once in your life to discover the unique characteristics of Cham Pa culture.
Ponagar tower is the place that shows the most clearly the culture of the Kingdom of Champa, expressed through a very special architecture, is a golden mark for the flourishing Hinduism period.
Follow the Vietnam Traveler back in time to learn about the history and culture of the ancient Cham people through discovering the beauty of Ponagar Tower !
1. Introduction about the relic complex of Ponagar Tower
Ponagar tower is an ancient tower complex of the Cham people, built during the peak Hindu period. According to ups and downs of history, time eroded some parts of the monument.
The name “Ponagar Tower” is used to refer to the whole complex of this monument, but in fact it is the name of the tallest tower (about 23 meters).
Ponagar tower is not only a famous tourist destination of Khanh Hoa province, but also a place to keep the imprints of the ancient Champa dynasty, as well as contains great values of culture, architecture, Religious beliefs. On the one hand, this is the place to worship the most important god in the Champa religion, the goddess Ponagar, on the other hand is a unique spiritual tourist destination serving domestic and international tourists to visit.
Ponagar tower contains a unique cultural price of the ancient Champa people (Photo source: Internet)
The ancient tower is located on a small hill close to the left bank of the peaceful Cai river, about 4 kilometers north of Nha Trang city center.
When you arrive at Ponagar tower, you need to buy a ticket to enter the gate for only 25 thousand VND. The ancient tower operates from 8:00 to 18:00 daily, and is open year round to welcome visitors.
Ponagar tower is located on a hill on the banks of the Cai River (Photo source: Internet)
2. Ponagar tower and thrilling legends
The legend of the Ponagar tower tells that once upon a time, in Dai An mountain, a woodcutter couple adopted an orphan girl, and grew up to become a beautiful girl. On a rainy day with heavy winds swept away everything in the area, the young woman devoted herself to the part of the male period that floated into the water, when suddenly it was quiet.
The piece of Ky Nam has a fragrant scent, drifting near the palace, the people feel strange, so they carried it ashore, but strangely, the log was replaced by a thousand pounds that no one could carry. Prince Bac Hai heard something strange had come, and strangely he was the one who lifted the log, then brought it to the palace and considered it a treasure.
One night, when he saw a shadow of a man in the place where the log was placed, he approached, but he could not see anyone, only a faint scent of wood remained. After many days of observing, one day the crown prince caught a beautiful beauty walking out from the log, she was Thien Y Ana. Admiring the beauty of the daughter, the prince married her as a wife, the two lived happily together, giving birth to two children, one boy and one girl.
Goddess Thien Y Ponagar in Cham legend and beliefs (Photo source: Internet)
One day, Thien Y remembers that her hometown had re-entered the male period to return to the old village. Dai Nam mountain is still there, the woodcutter couple has disappeared. Thien Y suppressed her heartache, built graves for adoptive parents, rebuilt her house.
With her talent and ingenuity she taught the people here how to plow, pull cloth, weave yarn, and rituals. The garden fields became lush, and the prostitute’s life became more prosperous. One day, a crane appeared from the sky and took Mrs. Thien Y away. People in the area were grateful that she had carved a statue to build a tower to worship, and every year on March 21-23 of the lunar calendar held again. Yana Holy Mother Festival to commemorate the merits of Mrs. Thien Y
In the beliefs of the Cham people in Khanh Hoa, the female relative Ponagar, or Thien Y Thanh Mau is the origin of life, the person who gives birth to all things, land, water, trees, food, creating life for people. That is why in the mind of the Cham Pa people, the goddess Ponagar is the superior god, so worshiping is extremely careful.
Today, these ancient legends are only stories passed down to each other, but the spiritual meaning, religious beliefs are forever, and the existence of the Ponagar tower is the proof. most clearly!
3. Unique architecture of Ponagar Tower
Making the value of the relic complex of Ponagar Tower is the unique architecture of this place. The entire monument area is divided into three zones corresponding to three architectural floors
“Low floor” is the first floor of the relic, and today are only ruins like pillar foot, stone steps, visitors will hardly recognize until reaching the higher floor.
Ponagar tower is seen from the lowest floor (Photo source: Internet)
The “middle floor” is called a mandapa, is understood to be the guest house, is a place where people come to prepare ceremonies and costumes before entering the main hall to perform rituals. The architecture of the middle part includes the supporting column and the roof. The middle floor is 20 meters long, 15 meters wide, with 4 octagonal columns. The 10 main pillars are divided into two rows in the middle, the outside has 12 small columns also divided into two rows with a lower height. The column section functions to support the roof.
The octagonal column system of the middle floor (Photo source: Internet)
“The top floor is the highest floor of Pongagar Tower, and almost intact the Cham-style architecture. The wall bricks are made of terracotta, stacked seamlessly and very closely, without any gaps, this proves the ingenuity and talent of the Cham people in the construction field.
Decorative carvings of the Ponagar tower (Photo source: Internet)
The inside of the tower is decorated with sculptures depicting the scene of community activities such as hunting, boating, dancing, singing, and milling rice … And the outside of the tower is decorated with very visual images of beliefs. Cham people such as gods, fairies, mascots … are very specific characteristics of Champa.
In the middle of the tower is a 2.6m-high goddess statue carved in black marble. The goddess sits on a lotus-shaped stone pedestal, her back leaning on a bodhi leaf-shaped stone. This is one of the unique sculptural masterpieces of the Champa when combining circular and embossing techniques.
4. Come to Ponagar Tower to enjoy the unique culture of the Cham people
In addition to the unique architecture, the culture of the ancient Cham Pa people also has its own distinctive features.
If you travel to Khanh Hoaaround the end of the third lunar month, specifically from the 21st to the 23rd of the lunar calendar, you will be immersed in the Thien Y Ponagar Thap Ba festival, some people also called the Wallet Day, the time This will have unique cultural activities of the Cham people living in this place.
On the festival day, people pull together to the banks of Cai river to release flower lights to pray to goddess Ponagar to bring good luck to their relatives.
The riverbank next to the Ponagar tower shimmered with the flower lights (Photo source: Internet)
There will be artistic performances with extremely unique traditional Champa dances, along with the unique music of the Cham people roaring.
Unique Champa dance (Photo source: Internet)
Conclusion
It can be seen that Ponagar Tower is a place to preserve the unique culture, religion and beliefs of the ancient Cham people. With a very unique architecture, this place has become the cultural heritage of the nation, attracting a large number of visitors here to admire and explore. And also this place has become one of the best tourist destinations in Nha Trang that you must definitely visit.