Po Nagar

Four towers of the original eight on Cù Lao Mountain in Nha Trang, built between the 7th and the 12th century. It is the only Cham temple where religious ceremonies are still held. The sanctuary stands on a fifty-metre hill right by the mouth of the Cái River, a couple of kilometres north of the town centre. The main tower, about twenty-three metres tall, is dedicated to Po Inu Nagar, the mother of the country, whom the Vietnamese later took into their own pantheon under the name Thiên Y A Na; above her entrance is carved a four-armed Shiva dancing on the bull Nandin. Inside, in the half-light, a dark stone figure of the goddess sits on a lotus pedestal, dressed in cloth robes that the attendants change. Further down the slope rows of massive brick pillars survive, the remains of the hall where pilgrims prepared for the rite. The main festival takes place in the third lunar month and draws people from all over the central coast. The temple is active: people pray before the figure of the goddess, so you enter the main tower barefoot and in covering clothes, which are handed out at the entrance if you have none. Admission is charged and there are many tourists, so it is quieter in the morning. The complex is a couple of kilometres north of the centre of Nha Trang, on the way to the hot springs.

On the map