Po Klong Garai Tower - once visited and forever remembered

(HBĐT) - That is not only my own thoughts and feelings, but it seems to have been in the hearts of many tourists who have come to Ninh Thuan at least once and once stepped on the sturdy brick steps to visit and admire the national relic complex of Po Klong Garai tower. What created those "memories"? Returning to Ninh Thuan this time, we continued to explore and then got the answer: Because the relic complex of Po Klong Garai tower is not simply a perfect architectural sculpture, but also a place where the quintessence of Champa culture is gathered.

Tourists take souvenir photos in the Po Klong Garai tower complex - Ninh Thuan.

More than 10 years ago, I set foot in the "land of red cactus" - Ninh Thuan Cham Towers and enjoyed the scenery of the Po Klong Garai Cham Tower complex. The tower is located on Trau Hill, in Phan Rang - Thap Cham City, Ninh Thuan Province. At that time, Ninh Thuan was not known as a highlight on the Central Vietnam tourism itinerary like it is now, so the relic sites were quite deserted and so was the Po Klong Garai Tower complex. Taking us on a tour was a colleague from Quang Tri Newspaper and an employee of the Ninh Thuan Provincial Museum. Because few people visited, our group was able to see the unique architectural features in detail and listen to detailed explanations about the tower complex: Po Klong Garai Tower is a complex of 3 towers, built around the end of the 13th century, beginning of the 14th century. The main tower worships the statue of King Po Klong Garai (1151 - 1205). The main tower is modeled after the Peru mountain - a sacred mountain of Hinduism in India, associated with the worship of the god Siva and the Cham kings. Lower is the fire tower, over 9m high, with 3 connecting doors in 3 directions: East, North and South. The function of this tower is for Brahmin priests and sorcerers to display sacrificial objects and keep the sacrificial fire, so the Cham people call it the fire tower. Next to the fire tower is the gate tower, behind the main tower is a shrine to worship the statue of Queen Kut. According to the records and research of historians, this is Queen To Ly.

With the tour guide, we once again heard the fascinating and fascinating mythological story about the life and career of King Po Klong Garai - who had great achievements in building the irrigation system to serve the agriculture of the Cham people in the region. The vestiges of those irrigation works are still preserved and used today, such as Nha Trinh dam and Lam Can dam in Ninh Thuan.

To recall that "memory", returning to Ninh Thuan this time we came to the Po Klong Garai tower relic complex. It is not difficult to recognize the difference when entering the relic complex, which is the bustling crowd of visitors. As soon as they get a ticket to the relic site, each visitor is given a bilingual Vietnamese-English leaflet introducing the Po Klong Garai tower, including a diagram showing: Passenger car parking lot, souvenir shop area, outdoor activity area, Cham folk art performance stage. At the same time, the tour guides instruct: This is a spiritual place of the Cham people, so when coming here, visitors need to comply with some regulations to show that they are civilized visitors such as: Do not wear shirts with too wide necklines and short skirts, shorts. If visitors have not prepared in time, they can use a large scarf to cover and wrap it up discreetly. Avoid bringing cameras inside the main tower where King Po Klong Garai is worshiped. When taking photos, be careful not to stand directly in front of the main tower, whether facing in or out. Do not arbitrarily draw graffiti on the bricks of the tower; talk at a volume that is audible, avoid making noise that disrupts the sacred place...

We moved around to observe and were amazed. Because each cluster of towers has its own beauty and charm, but still in harmony with the overall architectural features of Cham culture. The tower was built with dark red bricks. From the wide base of the tower, the lines gradually opened up and then tapered like a blooming flower.

The outer wall of the tower is carved with details of flowers, leaves, birds, dancers, gods... which are exquisitely, delicately and incredibly vividly. It seems that just by touching that wall, a Cham dancer with eyebrows and phoenix eyes will bend her wasp waist to stand up, lift her lotus heels to indulge in endless passionate dances. The unique features of Po Klong Garai tower bring a feeling of splendor, magnificence mixed with a bit of mystery that makes visitors linger. In 1979, Po Klong Garai tower was ranked as a national historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture - Information (now the Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism). In 2016, it was ranked as a special national relic.

According to the tour guide: Every year, the Cham people hold festivals on the tower three times, including: the tower opening ceremony, the Kate ceremony to worship the Father God and the Cambun ceremony to worship the Mother God. Coming to Po Klong Garai tower on major holidays such as the New Year's festival, the rain-praying ceremony, especially the Kate festival, visitors will be immersed in the jubilant, bustling atmosphere of the festival rituals. And of course, once passing by will be remembered forever, whether the scene of the Po Klong Garai tower cluster is bright in the bright dawn or late in the afternoon sunlight.

Thuy Hang (Contributor)

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