In 'Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and

Southeast Asia. Prasadanidhi: Papers Presented to Prof.

M.A. Dhaky', edited by Parul Pandya Dhar and Gerd J.R.
Mevissen, New Delhi: Aryan Books International, pp.
30-50.

3
The Early Temples
of Campµa,
Vietnam: Shaping
an Architectural
Language

Parul Pandya Dhar

For my teacher, Prof. M.A. Dhaky, with deep respect:

pramāṇaṃ svaparābhāsī jñānaṃ bādha-vivarjitam/

-Nyāyāvatāra of Siddhasena/Siddharṣi, 1.
That knowledge is dependable, which illuminates the
self and the other, and is incontrovertible.

E
rstwhile Campā, now central and
southern Vietnam, marks the
easternmost extent of Hindu-Buddhist
temple construction in mainland Southeast Asia.
Comprising a group of coastal polities with shifting
power-centres, Campā began to grow in prominence
during the early centuries of the Common Era
and continued to exert influence for more than
a millennium.1 Her long and sinuous coastline
bordered the South China Sea to the east, with
mountain ranges separating the region’s western
limits from present-day Laos and Cambodia (Map).
The Chinese and Đại Việts occupied territories
beyond Campā’s often fluctuating northern
margins. A strategic geographical location, distinct
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language
31
Map showing the principal Southeast Asian sites
discussed in the paper. Courtesy: Sanjay Dhar.
topography, and rich natural resources made
Campā an important player in the trade across
the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean world, and
South China Sea. Sustained trans-regional contacts
led to an integration of external influences with
local practices, creating newer modes of cultural
expression. The elites of Campā selectively adopted
and localized many aspects of Indian culture.
The ancient temples of Campā are tangible
traces of this vibrant history of cross-cultural
interactions. Sadly, the sophisticated architectonics
and refined artistry of these fragile brick buildings
have received limited attention from art and
architectural historians.2 The vagaries of nature,
neglect, and war have also caused much damage to
these monuments. Fortunately, Henri Parmentier’s
architectural investigations and Charles Carpeaux’s
photographs at the dawn of the 20th century have
preserved much that is no longer seen on the
ground (Parmentier 1909 and 1918; MAFV 2005).
These visual archives and the stylistic investigations
of Philippe Stern (1942), Jean Boisselier (1963), and
others serve as a springboard for future research in
the art and architecture of Campā.
The earliest temples of Campā have not
survived and only a handful of those from the late
seventh to the early ninth century are accessible.
Such a lean record makes it even more necessary
to revisit their early history, from the beginnings
to about the first quarter of the ninth century.
This paper endeavours to do so and interprets the
formative phase of Campā’s temple architecture
from local and cross-cultural perspectives.
Temples and Terms in Early Records
Some of the earlier temples of Campā lie
hidden between the lines of Sanskrit and Cham
inscriptions, a few appear as stray allusions in
Chinese records,3 and still others at times surface as
archaeological finds.4
The earliest among these is the temple implicit
in a fifth-century record (C.72) of a perpetual
endowment (akṣaya nīvī) by king Bhadravarman I,
who bestowed an entire valley nestling within a
ring of mountain slopes to [the temple of Śiva]
Bhadreśvara (Majumdar 1927, 4-8 of Book III;
Jacques 1995, 3-7).5 This temple was in all likelihood
the first to have been built in the scenic valley
of Mỹ Sơn, for no portion of the valley has been
spared from its maintenance. In the centuries to
follow, Mỹ Sơn was to become a veritable valley of
temples. Another record (C.73A), found in close
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia
32
proximity to the earlier one, tells us that during the
reign of king Rudravarman (c. sixth century), the
earlier temple (devadevāla[yam], abode of the god
of gods) was burnt by fire, which led his successor,
Śambhuvarman, to establish (pratiṣṭhāpitaḥ) god
Śambhubhadreśvara there (Majumdar 1927, 9-14
of Book III; Jacques 1995, 9-14). This suggests that
the temple was built in wood and that partial or
complete rebuilding of temples was practised in
Campā from an early period. The restoration or
reconstruction of temples was also practised in
southern Campā. At Po Nagar, after the city of the
gods (surapura) was burnt, king Satyavarman had
it built anew (C.38, 784 ce) (Majumdar 1927, 41-44
of Book III). Often, parts from earlier temples were
used while fashioning newer ones. Such a recurrent
history of restoration, reuse, and rebuilding lends
further complexity to issues of style and chronology
in arriving at a reliable framework for studying these
temples.
During the reign of Prakāśadharman-
Vikrāntavarman (c. second half of seventh century),
the term pūjāsthāna (place of worship) is used to
indicate a temple and also a pedestal supporting
the deity. At the royal ritual centre of Mỹ Sơn,
king Prakāśadharman fashioned a pūjāsthāna for
Maheśvara’s (Śiva’s) friend, Kubera (C.79); at the
political centre of Trà Kiệu, he was responsible
for rebuilding the temple (pūjāsthānaṃ punas
tasya kṛta) of the great sage-poet, Vālmīki (C.173);
and at Dương Mông, a pūjāsthāna for Viṣṇu has
been attributed to him (C.136).6 These records are
engraved on plain stone slabs which served as
image supports but seem to indicate more elaborate
places of worship. This is especially true of the
Trà Kiệu record, which mentions the rebuilding
of a pūjāsthāna. Often, the foundation of a temple
was implicit in the act of installing (sthāpitaṃ)the
presiding deity, usually a Śiva-liṅga carrying the
name of the king suffixed with īśvara (C.96, C.135)
(Jacques 1995, 100-07, 235). Patronage to temples in
the form of offerings of ceremonial objects like liṅga
kośas (sheaths) is also known (C.87, C.97) (Jacques
1995, 107-10, 112-13; Griffiths and Southworth 2011,
298).
Even as temples proliferated in the Mỹ Sơn
valley, the site of the destroyed fifth-century temple
of Bhadreśvara (C.72), which in all probability had
been built at the centre of the Mỹ Sơn A group,
continued to enjoy special status.7 Successive kings
restored, rebuilt, and patronized this temple-site
and proudly proclaimed their pious acts.8 Another
stele, found at the same place and dated to 731 ce
(C.74), is rich in poetic expressions of temple
imagery (Majumdar 1927, 38-41 of Book III). It
describes a brick vedī (vedī baddheṣṭakamayī) that
King Śambhuvarman had built for goddess Lakṣmī:
It (vedikā) was covered with silver to resemble the
milky ocean (kṣīrodadhi). King Prakāśadharman
had desired to make it in stone (śilāmayīṃ).
Naravāhanavarman subsequently made it in stone
and covered it with gold and silver just as Brahmā
made the peak of Mount Meru. It resembled
the peak of Himalaya (bhāti śikhā himagirer iva).
Amazement is expressed (kim adbhutam) at the
creation of this great vedī (mahāvedī) by him
(Naravāhanavarman) who achieved a task that had
been difficult to achieve (duṣkara) for earlier kings.9
The terms vedī, vedikā, and mahāvedī in the
foregoing account indicate a pedestal or platform
upon which the goddess was established. From the
description, it also emerges that such platforms were
built in brick until at least the end of the seventh
century, when a king named Naravāhanavarman
made the unprecedented and wondrous shift to
stone as the building material. This suggests that
stone began to be considered as a medium of
construction for such temple platforms in Campā
from the late seventh or early eighth century in the
region of Mỹ Sơn. But the likeness drawn between
the religious structure (the mahāvedī with the
goddess) and the cosmic mountain, Meru, and next
the Himalayas, needs further thought. To justify such
grand similes, the structure could be expected, at
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language
33
the least, to have had a ‘peak’ or superstructure
(See under ‘Mỹ Sơn E1 Temple’).
Other terms to indicate a temple in the Campā
inscriptions are sthāna (place [of installation or
worship], C.25), devakula (deity’s house, C.23, C.31),
prāsāda (palace, temple, C.31), and antargṛha
(inner house/temple? sanctum?) among others.10
Occasionally, associated architectural components
such as dvāra (door, C.31), maṇḍapa (hall, C.31),
vedī and mahāvedī (pedestal or platform, C.74), śālā
(hall, C.13), kuṭī (cottage, hut, C.13), and others are
met.11 To the best of my knowledge, nowhere in the
Sanskrit or Cham inscriptions, or in the Chinese
annals, does one encounter the term kalan, which is
the most widely accepted Cham term in use today
to denote the ancient temples of Campā (Aymonier
and Cabaton 1906, 66).12 The closest terms are kan-
lan and gan-lan in middle and modern Chinese
respectively, which derive from a non-Chinese
language and stand for ‘house’.13 In this sense, the
Cham term, kalan (linked to Khmer, khna:ŋ, house),
suggests ‘the house of god’.
The names for temples and associated elements
in the Sanskrit and Cham inscriptions of Campā
make generous use of Sanskrit terminology. Like
the temples themselves, these terms also register
conceptual and functional correspondence with
those mentioned in the Sanskrit architectural
treatises of India. Given the close links between
the ancient Indian and Cham temples, I have
drawn from the corpus of Sanskrit architectural
vocabulary so perceptively and painstakingly
deciphered by M.A. Dhaky and a few other
scholars, for an interpretation of Campā’s temples.14
Since architectural treatises or manuals have not
been found from ancient Campā, the corpus of
Indian architectural terms is useful in extending
the Sanskrit terminology already found in the
inscriptions of Campā. Vietnamese architectural
terms in use more recently are less suited than the
Sanskrit terms to explain the conceptual and formal
rationale of Campā’s temples (Trần Kỳ Phương 2009,
fig. 3). This is because the temples belong to an
ancient cosmopolitan ethos that was deeply rooted
in Sanskrit and other aspects of Indic culture,
during a period prior to Việt control of the region.
As far as possible, English equivalents have been
used alongside Sanskrit terms for easy readability.
Mỹ Sơn E1 Temple
Mỹ Sơn in central Vietnam has yielded the remains
of an elaborately embellished stone platform
belonging to the E1 temple (c. early eighth century).
This platform provides the closest architectural
parallel for the vedī/mahāvedī described in
inscription C.74.15 The E1 temple remains include
meagre fragments of thin brick enclosure walls in
situ. The stone remains have been reassembled at
the Đà Nẵng Museum of Cham Sculpture, Vietnam
(Figs. 3.1, 3.2; Col. pl. 1).16 Henri Parmentier had
recorded that the E1 temple was situated on a
raised terrace approached through a stairway at its
projecting western end (Parmentier 1904, 863-76;
1909, 401-20, pls. LXXXVII-LXXXVIII). The main
temple was within a rectangular enclosure of thin
brick walls, which encompassed an inner chamber
of generous proportions (640 x 696 cm). The
thinness of the brick walls and the large span to be
covered indicate that these walls could not have
supported any substantial superstructure.
The area enclosed by these thin brick walls is
appreciably larger than that of the sanctums of later
and bigger Cham temples with much thicker walls.17
It is, therefore, very likely that these walls were not
intended as sanctum walls (garbha-bhitti); rather,
they served as enclosure walls for a modest shrine in
the middle of an open courtyard-like space. No false
doors (ghanadvāras) were carved on the surfaces
of these walls – a feature that further distinguishes
them from the sanctum walls of slightly later temples
such as Mỹ Sơn F1 and the two larger temples of the
Phố Hài group (Col. pl. 2; Figs. 3.13, 3.14).18
The enclosed chamber of E1 was entered from
the west (Fig. 3.1). It was framed by two stone
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia
34
Fig. 3.1. Plan, Mỹ Sơn E1, reconstructed plan. Adapted
from Parmentier (1909, pl. LXXXVIII).
columns of circular cross-section on which rested
a tympanum with a plateau-like top that gave it
the appearance of a door-lintel (Fig. 3.2l). The floor
of the inner chamber was a little lower than the
raised entrance. This chamber housed an exquisitely
carved stone platform (S: upapīṭha, N: jagatī)19,
which also served as a pedestal (‘mahāvedī’, pīṭhikā)
upon which a large Śiva-liṅga was established at
a later stage (Figs. 3.1, 3.2; Col. pl. 1). A stairway
(sopānamālā) with S-shaped banisters emulating
an elephant’s trunk (hastihasta) fronted the stone
platform. Four pillar bases were located midway
between the stone platform and the inner corners
of the thin enclosure walls (Fig. 3.1). These bases
once supported wooden pillars upon which a roof
of lighter materials would have sheltered the liṅga
placed on the stone platform.20 Only fragments
of the large liṅga and yoni ensemble were found
by Parmentier, on the basis of which he offered
a reconstruction of their placement on the stone
platform (Parmentier 1904, fig. 34). This large liṅga
was almost certainly a later addition.
The type of superstructure above the E1 platform
can be reasonably speculated. Trần Kỳ Phương (2011)
has proposed that it resembled the janùk structure
popular in Campā, which has a pyramidal roof
with tiles placed on a wooden frame supported by
wooden pillars (Fig. 3.3). He suggests that in the
initial phase, wooden pillars were placed at the
corners on top of the platform (Trần Kỳ Phương 2011,
fig. 10a). In the second phase, the pillars spanned a
slightly larger space and were placed on the floor
of the inner chamber, between the corners of the
chamber and that of the pedestal (Trần Kỳ Phương
2011, fig. 11). According to Pierre Baptiste too, the
pillars would most likely have been placed on top
of the stone platform initially, but he introduces
the possibility that they may have supported a
textile-like canopy to shelter the liṅga (Baptiste and
Zéphir 2005, 109-21). Baptiste bases his hypothesis
on the analogy of the interior arrangement of the S2
maṇḍapa (hall) at Sambor Prei Kuk, a pre-Angkorian
Cambodian monument, which simulates a similar
arrangement in stone (Fig. 3.4). The presence of tiles
in the Mỹ Sơn E1 debris and the actual presence of
a janùk structure still seen inside the sanctums of a
few Cham temples, as at Po Klaung Garai in southern
Vietnam (Sharma 1997, 158), suggest a likelihood in
favour of Trần Kỳ Phương’s hypothesis. At the same
time, the stylistic affinities of Mỹ Sơn E1 with Sambor
Prei Kuk structures S2 and N17 make it difficult to
overlook Baptiste’s proposal. In both cases, the E1
stone base would have functioned as an elevated
platform (upapīṭha, jagatī) upon which a temple
in lighter materials was built. In Trần Kỳ Phương’s
reconstruction of the second phase, this ornate stone
base now served as a pedestal (pīṭhikā) supporting
a liṅga, placed within a wood-and-tile open-pillared
temple.
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language

35

Fig. 3.2. Mỹ Sơn E1: (a) platform, with details (b-k), and tympanum (l); Đà Nẵng Museum of Cham
Sculpture, Vietnam, c. early eighth century ce. Photos: Parul Pandya Dhar. [Col. pl. 1].
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia

36

Fig. 3.3. Proposed model of a janùk structure sheltering the Mỹ Sơn E1 liṅga as displayed at the Mỹ Sơn site museum.
Photo: Parul Pandya Dhar.
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language

37

Fig. 3.4. The architectural arrangement in the interior of monument S2 at Sambor Prei Kuk, Cambodia, c. seventh
century ce. Photo: Parul Pandya Dhar.

The remains of the E1 platform include twelve
stone blocks, which are exquisitely carved on their
outer faces (Fig. 3.2a-k; Col. pl. 1) and fit together
to make a near-perfect square, approximately 270 x
270 cm at its base and 65 cm in height (with vacant
spaces for two blocks that are now missing). Each of
these blocks is inscribed with a Sanskrit syllable on
its top surface, the letters proceeding sequentially
from block to block, beginning with ka, kā, ki.., and
ending with kha, khā (Griffiths et al. 2012, 277-79).21
The letters appear to have been markers for
assembling the carved blocks.
The E1 platform shows three varieties
of sculptural embellishment: geometrical,
architectural, and figural. It rises from a broad,
rectangular course carved with a geometrical
band of fleurons inscribed within diamond
shapes (puṣpa-ratna). Above this is a cyma recta
course adorned with lotus leaves (adhaḥpadma).
Next is a tall recess (gala, kaṇṭha) with vertical
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia

38

block-divisions (galapādas) topped by a cyma
reversa with lotus leaves (ūrdhvapadma). At the
top is a broad rectangular course similar to the
platform’s lowest moulding but with another variety
of puṣpa-ratna motifs. A thin rectangular band and
a minor torus moulding inscribed with lotus leaves
run horizontally across the length of the tall recess
near its upper and lower portions.
The architectural motifs on the E1 platform
include pairs of miniature square pilasters with
a lotus-shaped echinus (padma-maṇḍi). The
pilasters frame figure-bearing niches crowned by
toraṇa-arches.22 Two seventh-century Cambodian
structures from Sambor Prei Kuk, temple N17 and
the maṇḍapa (hall) of S2, also bear this architectural
motif on their stone sub-socles (Fig. 3.4). This will
be discussed in greater detail in the section, ‘Mỹ Sơn
F1 Tympanum: Temple in Relief’.
The E1 stairway rises from an ogee-shaped
moonstone (S: aśvapāda, N: candraśilā) incised
with a floral pattern (Fig. 3.2a) and is similar to
the moonstones noticed in some pre-Angkorian
Cambodian temples (Parmentier 1927, pls. XVIII,
XXI). The moonstone, shaped as a semi-circle, is in
evidence since the second century ce in a Buddhist
context at Nagarjunakonda, Kanaganahalli, and
other sites in southern India (Poonacha 2011,
fig. XLI A). It retains its semi-circular shape in India,
for example, at Ajanta, Badami, and Aihole
(Fig. 3.5). The moonstones from Cambodia and
Campā are inspired by Indian counterparts but are
more closely allied to each other with their ogee-
shaped contours.
The stairway banister (hastihasta), likewise, has
its genesis in early expressions from the Deccan, for
example, those seen in the interiors of Ajanta Caves
20 and 26 (c. third quarter of fifth century), Śiva
Cave at Elephanta, and the early Western Calukya
and Pallava temples (c. mid-sixth to eighth century)
(Fig. 3.5). But the hastihastas of some miniature
edifices carved in relief on early Cambodian temples
(Parmentier 1927, 28, fig. 13, and 304, fig. 104) and on
the sub-socle of S2 at Sambor Prei Kuk (Fig. 3.4) are
more closely affiliated to the Mỹ Sơn E1 example.
The Sambor Prei Kuk S2 hastihasta, like the one at
Mỹ Sơn E1, has a flattened front surface embellished
with ornamental motifs. These affinities between
the architectural forms of seventh- to eighth-
century Campā and Cambodia are not surprising
given their geographical proximity. Interaction
between these regions was further encouraged by
marital links among their elites.23
The lateral faces of the E1 stairway banister
are laced with a scroll motif which is typical of
the style prevailing in Campā during the eighth
century (Fig. 3.2c-d).24 They are also carved with
a miniature pilaster each. The one to the viewer’s
right (originally facing the southern side) has a
round shaft (Fig. 3.2d), different from the rest of the
pilasters but similar to the tall columns of circular
cross-section that had once supported a tympanum
at the entrance to the inner chamber. Of these

Fig. 3.5. Stairway-banisters (hastihastas) and moonstones (aśvapādas) from (a) Ajanta, Cave 20, c. third quarter of fifth
century ce; (b) Badami, Cave 3, c. second half of sixth century ce; and (c) Aihole, Rāvaḷaphaḍi Cave, c. second half of
sixth century ce. Photos: (a) American Institute of Indian Studies; (b & c) Parul Pandya Dhar.
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language
39
two stone columns, only one is well-documented.
It is adorned with garlands in its upper portion
(mālāsthāna) similar to those seen on some pre-
Angkorian Cambodian temples such as at Ashram
Moha Rosei (Southworth 2001, figs. 37-38).
The flattened E1 tympanum depicting the
birth of Brahmā from the navel of Śeṣaśāyī Viṣṇu
(Fig. 3.2l) is similar to Cambodian Prei Kmeng
toraṇa-lintels but with notable differences. The E1
tympanum had tenons extending on either side
which would have fitted into a brick structure (the
right tenon is still intact, Fig. 3.2l). This is quite
unlike the Prei-Kmeng toraṇa-lintels which are
rectangular all through, with their lateral extensions
being almost of the same width as the lintel (Dhar
2010, figs. 5.8, 5.9). Brahmā is seated at the apex
of the E1 tympanum’s plateau-like top, unlike the
Cambodian examples. The garuḍas carved at its
ends draw closer parallels with the seventh-century
ones from Khu Bua in Thailand (Guy et al. 2014,
153, cat. 77). The iconography of Śeṣaśāyī Viṣṇu,
too, is distinct from pre-Angkorian Cambodian
representations of the theme (Guy et al. 2014,
151-53).
The E1 platform and stairway-banisters are
especially striking for the sensitive portrayal of
ṛṣis (sages) in varied attitudes (Fig. 3.2; Col. pl. 1).25
Their vivid depictions may have been inspired by
the everyday lives of the priests at Mỹ Sơn. Carved
as they are on the lateral surfaces of a platform that
had once supported a massive liṅga, it is tempting
to stretch the imagination and consider them to be
vignettes from the imagined lives of sages dwelling
on Kailāsa, the abode of Śiva, with the dynamic
figure of the load-bearer on the staircase fronting
the platform alluding to Rāvaṇa, who had vainly
attempted to lift the Kailāsa. However, it is difficult
to ascertain whether such a simile was at all on the
minds of the creators of this delightful imagery.
Sages playing music – a flute and different
stringed instruments – is a favoured theme on the
E1 platform. The forest is evoked by trees, squirrels,
and most charmingly, by ṛṣis reciting to parrots – an
allusion to the practice of learning the scriptures
by rote, or, ‘parroting’ them (Fig. 3.2d, f). Two sages,
seated under the shade of trees, with a chart or
a manuscript between them, are engrossed in a
discussion (Fig. 3.2j). Other interesting details include
resting ṛṣis, a book-stand, kamaṇḍalu (jar), etc. The
ritual of liṅga worship is portrayed with a liṅga
placed on an elevated platform under the shade of a
tree (Fig. 3.2k). Such open-air liṅga-shrines would in
time have been replaced by roofed wood-and-brick
temples with brick enclosures.
The E1 platform remains unmatched in Campā
for its liveliness and dynamism, its wealth of
symbolic and aesthetic detail, and the richness of its
architectural, figural, and ornamental motifs.
Mỹ Sơn F1 Tympanum: Temple in Relief
The F group of temples is adjacent to the E group
at Mỹ Sơn, with F1 being the main structure in the
group. This brick temple is in a very ruined state
(Fig. 3.6) and was first documented by the French
at the dawn of the 20th century (Parmentier 1904,
877-82; 1909, 420-22). The temple appears to have
undergone more than one phase of construction,
with the first phase belonging to the late eighth
century.26
An inverted U-shaped stone tympanum,
which had crowned the temple’s entrance, can be
assigned to the late eighth century on the basis
of shared stylistic features with other art remains
from the site.27 It seems to have been reused during
the second phase of the temple’s expansion or
reconstruction. The F1 tympanum, though damaged,
had survived in a fair state of preservation until the
early 20th century (Parmentier 1904, fig. 39). In the
more recent past, it has suffered greater damage and
is housed in the interior of Mỹ Sơn D1. The narrative
focus of this tympanum is the well-known Śaiva
myth of the Rāvaṇānugrahamūrti (the embodiment
of Śiva’s grace upon Rāvaṇa). But the F1 tympanum
is also of utmost interest for its depiction of
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia
40
Fig. 3.6. A view of Mỹ Sơn F1 in the year 2011, c. late eighth to first half of ninth century ce. Photo: Parul Pandya Dhar.
a temple in relief. This is the only surviving
representation of a temple’s elevation, complete
from the sub-socle to the finial, of the period prior
to the first quarter of the ninth century.
The temple carved in relief on the F1 tympanum
(Fig. 3.7) stands on a moulded platform or sub-
socle (upapīṭha, jagatī) that lends it support and
enhances its stature and grace. Its basic elevation
is fairly similar to that of the E1 platform. The
hastihasta stairway-banister and the pattern of
incised rectangles on the upapīṭha are features
in common with those on the E1 platform. But
the projections and recessions of the upapīṭha of
the F1 relief temple suggest a staggered central
offset (bhadra) with accompanying minor offsets,
corner offsets (karṇas), and intervening recesses
(salilāntaras). This arrangement registers a
greater degree of complexity than that seen on
the E1 platform. The stairs lead up to a terrace on
which the temple proper is established. It has a
low socle (S: adhiṣṭhāna, N: pīṭha) of two plain
courses. Above this, the pilaster-and-wall portion
(pādavarga) seems to harbour some figures/
busts in the intervening (inter-pilaster) recesses. A
sequence of doucine mouldings above this conjures
a profile that flares outwards along the central
vertical axis of the wall. Due to the small size of the
relief, there is a lack of clarity at this level. Above
the pilaster-and-wall portion is the entablature
with either a haṃsamālā (row of ganders) or a
padmapaṭṭikā (band of lotuses), usually seen at
the level of the prastara (entablature) in Dravidian
temple architecture, but this is difficult to affirm.
A prominent kapotapālikā (cyma eave cornice) of
northern Indian affiliation caps this sequence as the
final moulding of the entablature.
The entrance frames a standing figure with
hands folded in the gesture of adoration (añjali
hasta). The ‘fronton enroulement’ or curvilinear
pediment above the doorway is shaped as a
laterally elongated dormer arch (gavākṣa, S: nāsī, N:
candraśālikā) motif. The doorway-and-dormer-arch
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language
41
Fig. 3.7 a&b. Temple carved in relief on the Mỹ Sơn F1 tympanum, c. late eighth century ce. Drawing: S. Pandian, © Parul
Pandya Dhar.
(dvāra and gavākṣa/candraśālikā/nāsī) combination
is also well known in early Indian architecture.28
In the temples of Campā, this arrangement is
retained not just for the main entrances, but also
as a recurring motif on the sub-socles and socles
of temples. The E1 platform, for example, which
at first served as an upapīṭha, frames figures of
musicians between pillars supporting an arch
that essentially derives from the dormer-arch (Fig.
3.8a). Its flattened shape gives it a plateau-like
appearance that resembles the Prei-Kmeng style
toraṇa-lintels of the ancient Cambodian temples
(Dhar 2010, figs. 5.8, 5.9). The mouldings of the
sub-socle of ancient Cambodian monuments, such
as the seventh-century N 17 and S2 at Sambor Prei
Kuk, also harbour figures framed within pillars
topped by gavākṣa- or nāsī-toraṇas (Fig. 3.8b). At
Nong Vienne near Wat Phu in Laos (Fig. 3.8c), which
was connected through the Mekong and other
riverine and land routes with Khmer and Cham
territories, an arch is placed above a false door
(Santoni and Hawixbrock 1998; Lorrillard 2014). A
visual comparison of the arched forms from Mỹ
Sơn, Sambor Prei Kuk, and Nong Vienne reveals
their shared basis (Fig. 3.8). The nāsīs harbouring
human busts on the eave cornice (kapotapālikā) of
the entablature of S2 also derive from the dormer-
arch (Fig. 3.9). These notional dormers on the
eave cornice of S2 at Sambor Prei Kuk share their
functional origins with those found on numerous
Indian temples from the fifth century onwards, but
with local adaptations already in evidence in the
Southeast Asian examples.
The second level of the Mỹ Sơn F1 temple in
relief is a reduced version of the first and rises
above the entablature of the first level (Fig. 3.7).
Quite unlike the Deccan and Dravidian temples
of India, the eave cornice of the F1 relief temple’s
entablature is not surmounted by a hāra (parapet-
like low walling) nor is it marked by miniature
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia

42

Fig. 3.8. Miniature arched niches carved on the sub-socles of (a) Mỹ Sơn E1, Vietnam , and (b) Sambor Prei Kuk N17,
Cambodia; (c) Miniature false door topped by an arch, Nong Vienne, Laos. Drawings: S. Pandian (Fig. 3.8 c adapted after
Santoni and Hawixbrock 1998, fig. 3), © Parul Pandya Dhar.

corner-aediculae (karṇa-kūṭas). This architectural Above the second level, a squat grīvā (neck) is
feature (hāra with karṇa-kūṭas), so persistent on topped by a flattened domical member which, in
southern Indian temples, is absent in the early appearance, has its closest parallels in the śikharas
Campā temples discussed here. (cupolas) of some early Western Calukyan temple

Fig. 3.9. Notional dormer motif carved on the eave cornice of N17 at Sambor Prei Kuk, c. seventh century ce.
Photo: Parul Pandya Dhar.
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language

43

superstructures, for example, the Upper Śivālaya

at Badami (c. early seventh century) and the
Saṅgameśvara at Pattadakal (c. 733 ce) (EITA I.2, 2:
pls. 28, 217). Different from the vase-shaped finial
usually seen on Indian temple superstructures
(S: stūpī, N: kalaśa), the F1 relief temple’s cupola
is topped by a sequence of mouldings resembling
a pīṭhikā (deity’s pedestal) and a trident-shaped
crowning member. If a nascent third level was
meant to be indicated (in place of the grīvā and
śikhara), with the crowning members being placed
directly above it, this is not clear in the F1 relief
temple model (Fig. 3.7).29

Mỹ Sơn F1 Main Temple

Although difficult to date with precision, the
sophistication of the main F1 temple’s ground plan
and the surviving details of its elevation suggest
a somewhat later date than the F1 tympanum,
perhaps the second quarter of the ninth century
(Figs. 3.6, 3.10). As this falls outside our time-frame,
it will only be briefly surveyed here. The temple
has a rectangular plan with staggered offsets and
faces west. In its present dilapidated state, it is not
possible to document its interior or approach it at
close quarters (Fig. 3.6). Parmentier’s documentation
shows a rectangular sanctum which housed a liṅga
and yoni on an altar-pedestal (Parmentier 1904, 877-
82). The liṅga, of the jaṭāliṅga variety (Fig. 3.11b), and
its pedestal are affiliated to the late eighth- or early
ninth-century remains from the site.
The inner walls of the sanctum were lined with
niches. The western side opened through a vestibule
and doorframe into a small porch at the outer end.
Parmentier records the remains of several tiles in
the debris in the interior of the F1 chamber, which
led him to conclude that the chamber may have
been roofed by a wood-and-tile structure. The brick
walls of the F1 temple are, however, thick enough
and could have supported a brick roof. It is possible
that a janùk structure was placed in the interior
of the sanctum as a canopy for the jaṭāliṅga and
Fig. 3.10. Plan, Mỹ Sơn F1. Adapted from Parmentier
(1909, pl. XCIII).
yoni on the altar-pedestal while the sanctum walls
supported a brick superstructure.
The temple stands on a high brick sub-socle
adorned with a range of motifs – miniature
buildings, crouching lions, human figures, load
bearers, and ornamental bands (Fig. 3.11a). The
exterior walls reveal a projecting and staggered
bhadra (central offset) with minor offsets and a
ghanadvāra (blind door) framed between columns
of circular cross-section (Fig. 3.6). The subdued
karṇa (corner) offsets are marked by pilasters with
recessed intervening wall spaces (salilāntara) in
between the central and corner projections. On the
western side, the bhadra is interrupted by a doorway
and a small porch.
Northern Variant: The Mỹ Khánh Temple
An ancient Cham brick temple at Mỹ Khánh was
discovered in the year 2001 in the region north
of Mỹ Sơn, near Huế in Vietnam (not illustrated;
Guillon 2008, 76-77; Trần Kỳ Phương 2011, 288-92).
Its importance lies in it being a rare example of an
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia

44

Fig. 3.11. Mỹ Sơn F1: Details of (a) the sub-socle mouldings and (b) jaṭāliṅga, c. late eighth to first half of ninth century ce.
Photos: Parul Pandya Dhar.

early temple (c. late eighth century) which registers
a shift towards the use of higher brick walls in the
making of Cham temples. The temple is rectangular
on plan with prominent bhadra and subdued karṇa
offsets. The modestly high brick walls of this temple
show an early presence of a blind dormer-arch
(gavākṣa- or nāsī-toraṇa) springing from pilasters
placed at projecting bhadra offsets. This motif is
similar to those noticed on the sub-socles of Mỹ Sơn
E1 and other early structures in Cambodia and Laos
(Figs. 3.2a-b, 3.2e, 3.8). The blind archways frame a
standing human figure and presage the entrance
of the Mỹ Sơn F1 relief temple (Fig. 3.7). The
excavations were conducted by the Institute of
Archaeology and the Provincial Museum of Thừa
Thiên Huế. Their findings suggest that the roof of
this temple was perhaps never built in brick and
that, most likely, lighter materials such as wood
and tile were used for the superstructure (Trần Kỳ
Phương 2011, 288). This temple marks an important
transitional link between Mỹ Sơn E1 and the later
temples from the late eighth to early ninth century.
Southern Variant: The Phố Hài Group
The Phố Hài group of temples, alongside the earlier
temples of the Po Dam group (c. eighth century,
Binh Thuan province), is among the earlier and
better-preserved examples of Campā temples from
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language
45
Fig. 3.12. Phố Hài temple plans: (a) Small temple next to the Southern temple, (b) Southern or main temple, and
(c) Northern temple. Adapted from Parmentier (1909, pl. I).
southern Vietnam. Popularly known today as the
Thap Cham Poshanu towers, they are located atop
the Ong Hoang hill in the Phố Hài district of Phan
Thiết, which offers scenic views of the coastal areas.
The group includes three temples. The smallest,
earliest, and most dilapidated of these is situated
to the immediate north-east of the biggest or the
southern temple. The northern one is at a slightly
lower level and a little distance north of the other
two. The temples, especially the southern one, have
been restored in the recent decades and some of
the reconstituted details are not true to the original.
These temples are of modest proportions on plan,30
with no attached halls and with steeply corbelled
multi-storeyed elevations in the case of the bigger
northern and southern temples. The crowning
members have not survived for any of them.
The smallest temple is square on plan with
broad and flat wall pilasters at the centre and the
corners, creating narrow inter-pilaster wall spaces
(Fig. 3.12a). This temple does not have any false
doors (ghanadvāras). The inner sanctum walls
have niches for illuminating the interior. A small
passage leads out towards a corbelled doorway
on the east. The superstructure is too damaged
to know whether the temple was single-storeyed
or had more levels.31 The southern temple is a
three-storeyed pyramidal structure and houses
a liṅga and yoni on a pedestal in the sanctum
(Figs. 3.12b, 3.14; Col. pl. 2). A vestibule leads to
a narrow porch which opens to the outside. The
temple stands on an elevated platform (upapīṭha/
jagatī) which registers the same projections and
recessions as the temple. The central wall offsets of
the temple project prominently and are flanked by
a minor accompanying offset on either side. Blind
doors (ghanadvāras) on three sides are framed by
colonettes of circular cross-section which support
a lintel and an inverted U-shaped tympanum above
(Figs. 3.13, 3.14; cf. Fig. 3.8c). The blind doors and the
damaged lintel (Fig. 3.14; Col. pl. 2) carved in the
Kompong Preah style (Dhar 2010, 220-21, D.23-D.26)
on the Phố Hài temples register close affinities
with some ancient Khmer temples, especially the
ninth-century Prasat Damrie Krap in Cambodia.
The corners (karṇas) show broad and flat pilasters
with accompanying minor offsets. These pilasters
flare upwards with their profiles registering cavetto
capitals.
The tall first level is topped by a cornice.
Miniature corner aediculae (karṇa-kūṭas) as well
as a parapet (hāra) are absent above this level in
the Phố Hài group. The second level is a repetition
of the first on a reduced scale, with the third level
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia
46
Fig. 3.13. Phố Hài, Northern temple, c. first quarter of
ninth century ce. Photo: Chedha Tingsanchali.
being a reduced representation of the second.
Unfortunately, the portion above the third level is
completely destroyed. The northern temple
(Figs. 3.12c, 3.13) rises from a much-damaged sub-
socle and base. It is quite similar in character to the
larger southern temple except for minor variations.
Only two stages are intact; a damaged third level is
only partially visible.
The Phố Hài temples from southern Vietnam
are built entirely in brick, including the columns
and the lintels, and are stylistically different from
those in central Vietnam. Due to the damage and
reconstruction of the Phố Hài group, these temples
are better understood alongside the exquisite Hoà
Lai temples (c. first half of the ninth century),32 also
in southern Vietnam – a worthy subject for another
paper.
Conclusion
The earliest known temples of Campā were modest
platforms upon which a deity was established,
at times under the natural shelter of a tree
(Fig. 3.2k). The raised platform was at once the
temple and the support or seat of a deity. Gradually,
such platforms supporting a deity were given a
roof made of lighter materials such as wood and
tiles and an enclosure to demarcate sacred space,
as at Mỹ Sơn E1. With time, brick-walled temples
with brick superstructures began to be made, with
the deity being established on an altar-pedestal
(vedī/pīṭhikā) inside a walled and roofed sanctum,
and with the temple itself being supported on an
elevated platform (upapīṭha/jagatī). This phase can
be noticed in the case of the temple in relief on
the Mỹ Sơn F1 tympanum and the Phố Hài group.
It was only during this third or final stage of the
formative period of temple building in Campā
that the form and function of the deity’s pedestal
and the temple’s platform were differentiated. But
even then, the shared conceptual construct of the
‘deity on a pedestal’ and the ‘temple on a platform’
lived on. The early temples of Campā express this
conceptual equivalence most tellingly in the shared
architectural vocabulary of the deity’s pedestal and
the temple’s platform. This sharing and transference
of function and form is observed also in the shared
nomenclature in Campā inscriptions for the deity’s
pedestal and the temple or temple’s platform: vedī,
vedikā, mahāvedī, pūjāsthāna, sthāna, etc. However,
a few Sanskrit terms like devadevālaya, devakula,
prāsāda, and also rumaḥ and kalan in Cham, convey
the sense of a distinct house or palace for the deity,
suggesting a gradual process of differentiation
between the ‘deity on pedestal’ and the ‘temple on
platform’.
Sometime in the late seventh or early eighth
century, stone began to be employed for certain parts
of the temple such as platforms, altar-pedestals,
columns, and tympana and lavish attention was
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language

47

Fig. 3.14. Phố Hài, Southern temple, c. first quarter of ninth century ce. Photo: Chedha Tingsanchali. [Col. pl. 2].
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia
48
bestowed on their artistic embellishment. This is
especially true for a royal ritual centre like Mỹ Sơn
and the E1 temple from this site is an exquisite
record of the conceptual and tangible processes
that were shaping religious architecture in Campā
during its formative period. The E1 temple platform,
which supported a wood-and-tile superstructure,
was elaborately embellished as it was initially not
walled in and was visible from the outside. By the
late eighth or early ninth century, two- and three-
storeyed brick temples were being built in Campā.
The artistic attention lavished on the E1 platform (or,
platform-cum-pedestal) now shifted to the temples’
platforms and exterior walls. The altar-pedestals
retained the same basic structure but, as these were
now placed within dark sanctums, they were modest
in size and ornamentation, as in the Mỹ Sơn F1 and
Phố Hài temples.
The architectural motifs and forms seen on the
early Campā temples reveal close links with Indian
temples from at least the Gupta period; some motifs
and elements are seen also in earlier architectural
types from India. But the problem of missing links
in brick and timber is at times difficult to transcend
in arriving at a clearer understanding of the
processes at work. In the articulation of the whole
and its parts, in the character of their mouldings,
their relative proportions and configurations, and
in the details of their sculptural embellishment,
the early temples of Campā reveal an eclectic mix
of northern and southern Indian temple elements
besides other local and intra-Southeast Asian links.
All this points to an early phase of interaction
with Indian architectural ideas, forms, and motifs
at a time when the varied regional styles within
the Drāviḍa and Nāgara modes of Indian temple
Notes
1. For comprehensive discussions on early Campā
polities, see Southworth (2004) and Vickery (2005).
2. During the last fifteen years, Pierre Baptiste,
William A. Southworth, and Trần Kỳ Phương have
made important contributions towards a better
architecture were still to attain distinctiveness
(before the sixth century ce).
Equally, Campā temples of the formative phase
reveal strong affinities with contemporaneous
temples from Cambodia, Laos, and Java. This,
undoubtedly, was the result of an intricate network
of intra-Southeast Asian interactions along land,
sea, and riverine routes. Indian architectural ideas
reached Campā directly as well as through the filter
of other cultures via circuitous routes. The temple
was translated, reinterpreted, and transformed
within a dominant Cham cultural substratum.
While an understanding of Indian temple
‘archetypes’ is undoubtedly important for a cross-
cultural understanding of the temples of Campā,
what seems to hold greater promise is the quest
to understand the fluidity of the transformative
processes that shaped a related yet distinct
architectural language in a distant but connected
land.
Acknowledgements
My deepest gratitude goes to Prof. M.A. Dhaky,
who has been a great source of inspiration and
a generous but exacting mentor. S. Pandian has
meticulously rendered the architectural drawings.
Sanjay Dhar has carefully prepared the Map
besides supporting my work in other ways. Gerd
J.R. Mevissen has offered useful comments on an
earlier draft and patiently formatted and improved
the quality of the images. Chedha Tingsanchali
has generously given two of his photographs for
reproduction. Arlo Griffiths, Geoff Wade, and
William A. Southworth have kindly shared their
views on some aspects of the paper through emails.
I am very grateful to them all.
understanding of Campā’s art and architecture. See
‘Bibliography’ for some of their writings.
3. As per the Sui shu, juan 82, in 605 ce, during a
Chinese attack on the capital of Linyi, general
Liu Fang is known to have seized 18 principal
 The Early Temples of Campā, Vietnam: Shaping an Architectural Language
49
temple-images cast in gold, which are believed to
have represented the 18 successive rulers of Linyi.
See Wade (2014). The term that Geoff Wade renders
as ‘temple-image’ employs the Chinese term miao
for temple, which is the general term used for all
places of worship in China (email communication,
Geoff Wade, April 19, 2015). The looting of temples
during the Chinese raid of Campā in 446 ce is also
known from Chinese records (Southworth 2004,
221).
4. For the nature of temple remains found in the
excavations at Trà Kiệu, Mỹ Khánh, and other
Campā sites, see Nguyen et al. (2006), Trần Kỳ
Phương (2011), and Guillon (2008).
5. The corpus of inscriptions of Campā is maintained
by the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO).
The numbering has been standardized, with each
inscription being assigned a number preceded by
the letter C.
6. For C.79, see Finot (1904, 928), Jacques (1995, 110),
and Goodall and Griffiths (2013, 421-23). For a
revised edition and translation of C.173, see Goodall
and Griffiths (2013, 434-37). For C.136, see Jacques
(1995, 236).
7. This is based on the find-spots of the C.72, C.73, and
C.74 inscriptions, and the related contents of C.72
and C.73. See Jacques (1995, 3-14, 171-72, and 238-41).
8. See C.73A of Śambhuvarman, c. late sixth century,
and C.73B of Prakāśadharman Vikrāntavarman,
c. late seventh century, in Jacques (1995, 9-14, 171-72).
The vestiges of Mỹ Sơn A1 that survived until the
early 20th century have been dated to the 10th-11th
centuries ce, so there certainly was a third cycle of
restoration or rebuilding at the same sacred spot.
9. In a similar vein, the slightly earlier Mandagapattu
inscription of Pallava Mahendravarman I from
South India records the making of a cave-temple
for the Trimūrti (Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara)
without the use of wood, brick, mortar, or metal,
thus suggesting the earliest use of stone for a
religious structure in the region (Srinivasan 1964,
47).
10. See Majumdar (1927, 44-51, 65-67, and 61-64 of Book
III) for the temple terms mentioned in C.25, C.23,
and C.31 respectively. For antargṛha, see Finot (1904,
910-12 and 970-75).
11. See Majumdar (1927, 38-41, 61-64, and 147-49 of
Book III) for C.74, C.31, and C.13 respectively.
12. Sanskrit loan terms are often used to indicate a
temple in Cham language inscriptions. At times,
associated words in Cham and Malay (such as
rumaḥ, house, palace) contextually indicate a
temple. See Aymonier and Cabaton (1906, 421:
rumo’h). I am grateful to Arlo Griffiths for leading
me to this source (email, April 19, 2015).
13. I am grateful to Geoff Wade for this information.
As he explains, “In classical Chinese descriptions of
people south of the Yangtze, there appears a term
or which in modern Chinese is rendered
as gan-lan (middle Chinese kan-lan) and which
derives from a non-Chinese language referring to
the houses of people in these regions. The term
and descriptions of such houses date from the fifth
century and refer to wooden houses raised on stilts,
as are still seen across Southeast Asia today. This
is probably linked with the Austroasiatic terms for
house, eg. Khmer, khna:ŋ. The Cham term kalan
is perhaps a reference to the ‘house’ of the deity.”
(email, April 19, 2015).
14. Almost all the architectural terms used in this
paper are listed with their English equivalents in
the Glossary sections of the Encyclopaedia of Indian
Temple Architecture volumes. See EITA I.2 and
EITA II.1 in the Bibliography.
15. Although C.74 refers to another structure at Mỹ
Sơn (and not E1), the description given there yields
useful clues for Mỹ Sơn E1. The terms vedī and
mahāvedī have been employed in C.74 both in the
sense of a deity’s pedestal or pīṭhikā, and a temple
sub-base or upapīṭha/jagatī.
16. For an earlier set of images of the Mỹ Sơn E1
tympanum and the reassembled platform, see
Boisselier (1963, figs. 9-12).
17. The dimensions of the sanctums of Mỹ Sơn A1, E4,
and F1 are 620 x 620 cm, 498 x 498 cm, and 461 x 617
cm respectively. These measurements are based on
Parmentier (1909, pls. LXIX, LXXXVIII, and LXXXIX).
18. Later, as more temples were built around E1 in the
E group, they were fenced within a larger, common
enclosure (prākāra), which was accessed through a
gateway (gopura) (Parmentier 1909, pl. LXXXVII).
19. The standardized nomenclature found in Sanskrit
architectural treatises from South India (S) and
North India (N) has been used throughout, as
applicable. In cases where analogous terms are
equally applicable, both have been mentioned.
20. On the basis of broken tiles found in the debris,
Parmentier (1904) proposed a lighter roof made of
tiles placed on a wooden frame.
21. The two missing blocks must have been inscribed
with the syllables, kai and kau, which are missing
from the sequence.
 Temple Architecture and Imagery of South and Southeast Asia
50
22. The delicately-rendered antelopes that spring forth
from the makara’s jaws are noteworthy and do not
have a precedent, although vyālas (hybrid leonine
creatures) emerging from the jaws of makaras on
toraṇas are also known in Indian art (Dhar 2010,
fig. 3.36).
23. The Khmer king Īśānavarman’s daughter was the
mother of King Prakāśadharman Vikrāntavarman
of Campā, who ruled Mỹ Sơn during the second
half of the eighth century.
24. The same scroll pattern is also seen on the wings
of the Garuḍa in the Viṣṇu sculpture from Quang
Nam, now part of the Musée Guimet collections in
Paris (Baptiste and Zéphir 2005, 199, cat. 12).
25. See also Boisselier (1963, 42-45) and Southworth
(2001, 152-53).
26. This tallies with the assessment by Trần Kỳ Phương
(2009, 181, Table 1).
27. Boisselier has placed it close in time to the Mỹ Sơn
A1 and C1 tympana, with which it shares certain
stylistic characteristics (Boisselier 1963, 51).
Bibliography
Aymonier, Étienne, and Antoine Cabaton. 1906.
Dictionnaire Čam-Français (Publications de
l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient, vol. VII). Paris:
Imprimerie Nationale.
Baptiste, Pierre, and Thierry Zéphir. dir. 2005. Trésors d’art
du Vietnam: la sculpture du Champa. Paris: Reunion
des Musées Nationaux-Musée Guimet.
Boisselier, Jean. 1963. La Statuaire du Champa. Paris:
Publications EFEO [Vol. LIV].
Dhar, Parul Pandya. 2010. The Toraṇa in Indian and
Southeast Asian Architecture. Delhi: D.K. Printworld.
EITA I.2, 1 and 2. 1986. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple
Architecture, vol. I, part 2 (text and plates), South
India, Upper Drāviḍadēśa, Early Phase, ad 550-1075,
edited by Michael W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky. New
Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies and
Oxford University Press.
EITA II.1, 1 and 2. 1988. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple
Architecture, vol. II, part 1 (text and plates), North
India: Foundations of North Indian Style, c. 250 bc-ad
1100, edited by Michael W. Meister, M.A. Dhaky, and
Krishna Deva. Princeton: Princeton University Press
and New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies.
Finot, Louis, 1904. “Notes d’épigraphie: XI. Les inscriptions
de Mi-Sơn”. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême
Orient 4: 897-977.
28. This arrangement is seen in the post-Mauryan
excavated rock-cut caves of the Deccan, for
example, the Bhaja cave entrance, and also in early
Buddhist relief sculpture.
29. In several mature temples of Campā, of the period
from the mid-ninth century onwards, one can
observe three or four levels with the crowning
members placed directly above the top level.
30. The inner floor dimensions of the sanctum, as
recorded by Parmentier, are 207 x 203 cm for the
smallest temple, 323 x 308 cm for the southern
one and 290 x 260 cm for the northern temple
(Parmentier 1909, pl. I).
31. Parmentier (1909, 34) was of the opinion that this
small structure was made up of more than one
level.
32. A recently discovered stela informs us that Hoà Lai
was founded in the late eighth century (Griffiths and
Southworth 2011). However, the surviving structures
from the site suggest a date later than the stela, most
likely in the second quarter of the ninth century.
Griffiths, Arlo, Amandine Lepoutre, William A.
Southworth, and Thanh Phan. 2012. Văn khắc
Chămpa tại Bảo tàng Điêu khắc Chăm – Đà Nẵng/
The Inscriptions of Campā at the Museum of Cham
Sculpture in Đà Nẵng. Hanoi: École française
d’Extrême-Orient and Ho Chi Minh City: Center for
Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, Vietnam
National University.
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