Po Nagar Tower, a ancient architecture of Cham people

Po Nagar Tower is the name of main temple in a complex of  Cham temple towers which was founded sometime before 781 A.D and located near modern Nha Trang city  in Vietnam. In Vietnam, people call this towers are " Tháp bà Ponagar".

Po nagar Cham Towers were built to honour the goddess Yan Po Inư NaGar, who in Vietnamese is called Thiên Y Thánh Mẫu. "Yan Po NaGar"  mean " the mother of country" who taught agricultural and weaving skills to Cham People. "Yan" mean god, "Po" mean a word which i don't know, ha ha. But when you respect someone you say him is a "Po" man , "Inư" mean mother and "NaGar" mean country.

The architectural complex of the ancient Ponagar Temple Towers is the most unique symbol of the long-standing culture of the Cham people. It is located on a hill near the Cai River, 2km to the north from the center of Nha Trang city.

The Ponagar complex consists of three floors with a gate tower on the first floor which was totally destroyed. In front of the relic complex are two rows of 10 large pillars and two small pillars on the two sides.The second floor, called Mandapa (guest house), is the place where pilgrims can rest and prepare offerings and costumes before practising the rite. 

On the third floor, there are four towers.The central tower is in honour of Cri Cambhu who blesses devotees with fertility. The North West tower is in honour of Sanhaka, a wood cutter and foster father to Po nagar. The tower in the south was dedicated to ganeca, the daughter of Ponager. The largest tower is 23 m high. The four  tower symbolizes the beauty, art and creativeness of the Cham people.

Inside the tower, there is a statue of a goddess made of black granite, sitting on a stone base.She is Yan Po Inư NaGar . The other three towers are dedicated to the Indian supreme God of Shiva and his two sons, Gods Sanhaca and Ganeca.

The Ponagar Tower is not only a historical and cultural relic, but also a typical architectural and sculptural work of the Cham people. All the towers were built using red bricks and decorated with stones and ceramics. So far, the Cham people’s technique on placing bricks tighter together without any kind of mortar or adhesive has remained a secret to researchers.

The annual Po Nagar Tower holiday is held from 21^st to 23^rd  Mar of Lunar Calender ( approximately the end of April and beginning of May). There are many traditional activities in this time by Cham People