Before there were Vietnamese in Vietnam, there probably were the Cham people. Once, the Kingdom of Champa ruled the central plain of Vietnam and the red brick Po Nagar Cham temple complex which they built between 8th and 11th centuries on Mount Cu Lau on the bank of River Cai just 2 km north of present day Nha Trang, bears testimony to their presence. The temple complex which once had ten buildings, each dedicated to a different Hindu deity; now only has four .The most impressive and tallest, the Po Nagar Kalan stands at 25 metres; and it's here that the goddess Po Nagar is worshipped. Otherwise known as the The mother of the Country, the goddess whom historians believe to be the Hindu goddess Bhagavati, is said to have taught agricultural and weaving skills to the Cham people. A minority now, the Cham people who live still in the central plain near Danang, congregate here comes April and May during the annual religious festival of Thap Ba to worship their gods. That's despite their having mostly been converted to Islam.
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