Po Sah Inu Cham Tower

Po Sah Inu Cham Tower

Po Sah Inu is one of three groups of Cham temples and towers belonging to the Hoa Lai artistic architectural style, dating as early as the early 8th to 9th centuries. The group of towers is located on a hill formerly known as Ba Nai hill in Ngoc Lam village, Phu Hai ward (formerly Pho Hai), Phan Thiet city. Next to tower B in the group of towers there is an ancient pagoda, Buu Son pagoda, built in the late 19th century. At the foot of the hill is the sea, to the west of the hill is the surrounding Cai River flowing into the sea. The Po Sah Inu temple tower group has 3 towers including: Main Tower (Tower A), Tower worshiping the Fire God (Tower C) and Tower B worshiping the sacred cow Nandin (still in existence at the end of the 19th century, then lost). This is the only group of temples and towers built on high hills near the sea in the Hoa Lai artistic architectural style of Champa culture, while all other towers are located on high hills or plains far from the sea. . The Main Tower worships the god Siva, inside the tower there is still a Linga - Yoni altar, a symbol of the god, dating from the same time as the tower until now. From the 19th - 20th centuries, many people often called it Pho Hai tower, coinciding with the place name here. From about the 20th century onwards, the Cham people called the tower Po Sah Inu, the name of the princess, biological sister of King Podam and both children of Cham king ParaChanh, whom Vietnamese history called La Khai. After Po Sah Inu passed away, the Cham royal family built a temple to worship her in the grounds of Pho Hai tower. Thus, there was a period when this group of temples and towers existed with two names: Pho Hai and Po Sah Inu. The Main Tower is the largest and tallest tower in the group. The tower is 16m high; There are 3 floors in total, the two upper floors have the same architecture as the lower floor but gradually reduce in size as well as architectural and artistic details. Just like that, gradually getting smaller and soaring to the top along with the tower roof. Halfway up the tower's roof there are 4 vents in 4 directions, to ventilate and exhaust hot air inside the tower, partly creating balance between inside and outside, harmony between gods and heaven and earth. This is the spiritual highlight when dignitaries perform rituals and they believe that the gods from above come back this way. The Main Tower is also a place where the values ​​of physical and mental architecture as well as spirituality and religious beliefs are concentrated. Tower B: The tower is 12m high, has 3 floors like tower A but smaller. Inside the tower worships the sacred cow Nandin, which local people still saw from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, and then no longer saw it. During archaeological excavations from 1991 to 1995, some pieces and feet of the sacred cow Nandin were found. In front of the tower there is a large ceremony yard, currently used to set up a theater during the Kate ceremony. Tower C: Due to its original function of worshiping the Fire God, the architecture has only 1 floor including the base, body and top of the tower, the tower has a height of 5m; The width of each side is nearly 4m. Traces of collapse show that hundreds of years ago until the 80s of the 20th century, the top and roof of the tower collapsed along with the base of the tower rotting deep inside the tower body. After the renovation was completed, the tower's function was reused, but mainly as a place for people to leave offerings before entering the main tower for ceremonies. All three towers in the Po Sah Inu group have been renovated and embellished many times to have the current architectural shape and cultural space. From before until the first half of the 20th century, Cham people often performed many rituals here. Since 2005, the Kate festival has been restored with all the original processes of space, time, form, content and value as before. From the time it was restored until now and forever after, the Kate festival is held regularly every year to join the ancient Po Sah Inu tower in creating a destination to attract tourists and create momentum for tourism development. Source: Propaganda Department of Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee

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Rating : National monument

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