Museum of Cham Sculpture

The Cham Museum in Da Nang is the largest exhibition of Cham sculpture in the world. The museum displays almost 300 terracotta and stone works of art, ranging from the 7th to the 15th century. The building itself, built by the French and characterized by simple lines, was designed to resemble those from the Cham Empire, decorated with idols and holy animals, flowers, and many symbols of Hinduism.

The Kingdom of Champa ruled in the South from 192 A.D to 1697. Examples of Cham and Hindu architecture from those times can be found in Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, and of course Da Nang. This museum was founded in 1915, and it is the only museum of its kind devoted to the Champa era. There are also some elements inspired by Buddhism. The exhibits are categorized into ten separate exhibitions based on the region in which they were found in 4 sections – icon, pedestal, pediment, or fragment, and there is a shop with souvenirs and English-language guidebooks for sale.

Other historic Champa sites are in Tra Kieu, Dong Duong, Thap Man, and especially My Son, which were all famous Champa areas and are well worth a visit as part of a more comprehensive study into this fascinating period.

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