A Hindu footprint in Vietnam

I was blessed with opportunities to travel to a lot of places in Vietnam. I saw a lot of Buddhist / Confucianism temples all over the country. But when I saw this ancient Cham temple, I felt being alienated from Vietnam cultures I got used to. The temple was Tháp Bà Po Nagar (the Po Nagar Tower)

I got impression that I must be in Cambodia or Laos. Even the red bricks material reminded me to Bali. But hey..., that was the hint!. The common thing here was the Hindu influence.

With currently over 50,000 followers, Hindu community is a minority among 84-million population in Vietnam. Most of them are Cham ethnicity.

The Po Nagar Tower was one of the most important Hindu temples in Vietnam beside My Son in Quang Nam and Po Klaung Garai (Poklongarai) in Phan Rang.

To visit the tower was easy. It was located by the Cái river, not far from Nha Trang downtown. Plenty of public buses went passing by the tower, or you could take the xe ôm (motorbike taxi).