Po Nagar

Po Nagar
Po Nagar Location in Vietnam
Name
Proper name	Po Nagar
Geography
Coordinates	12°15′55″N 109°11′44″E / 12.26528°N 109.19556°E / 12.26528; 109.19556Coordinates: 12°15′55″N 109°11′44″E / 12.26528°N 109.19556°E / 12.26528; 109.19556
Country	Vietnam
Province	Khanh Hoa
Location	Nha Trang
Culture
Primary deity	Yan Po Nagar
Architecture
Architectural styles	Champa
History and governance
Date built	mid-10th to 13th century

Po Nagar is a Cham temple tower founded sometime before 781 and located in the medieval principality of Kauthara, near modern Nha Trang in Vietnam. It is dedicated to Yan Po Nagar, the goddess of the country, who came to be identified with the Hindu goddesses Bhagavati and Mahishasuramardini, and who in Vietnamese is called Thiên Y Thánh Mâu.

A stele dated 781 indicates that the Cham King Satyavarman regained power in the area of "Ha-Ra Bridge", and that he restored the devastated temple. From this inscription can be deduced that the area previously had come under temporary foreign dominion, and that foreign vandals had damaged the already existing temple. Other steles indicate that the temple had contained a mukhalinga decorated with jewelry and resembling an angel's head. Foreign robbers, perhaps from Java, "men living on food more horrible than cadavers, frightful, completely black and gaunt, dreadful and evil as death" had arrived in ships, had stolen the jewelry and had broken the linga. Though the king had chased the robbers out to sea, the treasure had been lost forever. The steles also indicate that the king restored the linga in 784.

The Cham military leader Senapati Par, under the reign of Harivarman I, made endowments in 817. Senapati made attacks on the Khmers under Jayavarman II. Harivarman I was succeeded by his son, Vikrantavarman III, who also made endowments.

A stele dated 918 by the Cham King Indravarman III states an order to build a golden statue to the goddess Bhagavati. Later steles report that the original gold statue was stolen by the Khmer's Rajendravarman II in 950, and that in 965, the king Jaya Indravarman I replaced the lost statue with a new stone one. A stele dated 1050 says that offerings of land, slaves, jewelry, and precious metals were made to the statue by Jaya Parameshvaravarman I. Paramabhodisattva made "rich offerings" in 1084 after reuniting the country. Jaya Indravarman III gave the temple a Shivalinga and a Shrishana Vishnu in 1141 and another donation in 1143. In 1160, Jaya Harivarman I "offered rich gifts". An inscription states Jayavarman VII of the Khmer Empire, "took the capital of Champa and carried of all the lingas." Later steles indicate the celebration of a cult in honor of the goddess Yan Po Nagar, as well as the presence of statues dedicated to the principal deities of Hinduism and Buddhism.