Religion Chams

the temples @ mỹ sơn 1 of holiest of cham sites



the cham decorated temples stone reliefs depicting gods such garuda fighting nāga (12th-13th century ce)

the first recorded religion of champa form of shaiva hinduism, brought sea india. hinduism predominant religion among cham people until sixteenth century. numerous temples dedicated shiva constructed in central part of vietnam. jewel of such temple mỹ sơn. compared other historical temple complexes in southeast asia, such borobudur of java in indonesia, angkor wat of cambodia, bagan of myanmar , ayutthaya of thailand. of 1999, mỹ sơn has been recognised unesco world heritage site.

as muslim merchants of arab , of persian origin stopped along vietnam coast en route china, islam began influence civilisation. exact date islam came champa unknown, grave markers dating 11th century have been found. assumed islam came mainland southeast asia later arrival in china during tang dynasty (618–907) , arab traders in region came direct contact cham , not others.

a syncretic form of islam blends indigenous practices of matriarchy, ancestor veneration , hinduism practised cham bani, predominantly live in vietnam s bình thuận , ninh thuận provinces. cham bani worship in thang magik, main communal setting rituals. celebrate month of ramuwan (ramadan), during ancestors called return home veneration, , acar (priests) stay @ thang magik 1 month , adhere vegetarian diet.

however, small band of chams, called kaum jumaat, follow localised adaptation of islamic theology, according pray on fridays , celebrate ramadan 3 days. however, members of group have joined larger muslim cham community in practices of islam in recent years. 1 of factors change influence members of family have gone abroad study islam.

the approximately 60,000 cham hindus not have strict caste system, although may have been divided between nagavamshi kshatriya , brahmin castes, latter of have represented small minority of population. hindu temples known bimong in cham language, commonly referred tháp stupa , in vietnamese. priests divided 3 levels, highest rank known po adhia or po sá, followed po tapáh , junior priests po paséh. in ninh thuận, many of cham in vietnam reside, cham balamon (hindu cham) number 44,000 while cham bani (muslim cham) number close 31,000. out of 34 cham villages in ninh thuận, 23 balamon hindu, while 11 bani or muslim. in binh thuan province, balamon number close 25,000 , bani cham around 10,000. there 4 pure cham villages , nin mixed villages in bình thuận province.