Cham well next to Mr. Tran Hung Thanh's house (Tam Xuan 1 commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province). Photo: HOANG MINH
Ancient well next to ancient Champa tower
If we compare Cham towers - the above-ground structures - to lingas (symbolizing the penis), we can also consider Cham wells - the submerged structures - to yoni (symbolizing the vagina), a pair of worship objects symbolizing the survival principle of Brahmanism, which is the belief of the Cham people.
From the belief in the durability of the bricks they made, the ancient Cham people used the same type of bricks used to build towers to build wells.
It can be said that through the grinding - folding experiment: scooping water to grind bricks in ancient Cham wells, one can still see the amount of brick powder created during the grinding process (to become a type of glue to bind 2 bricks together when building bricks), as well as being able to carve patterns on the bricks without breaking them, which are special features only found in ancient Cham bricks used to build towers.
Mr. Nguyen Van Mich next to the Cham well in his yard in Khuong My village (Tam Xuan 1 commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province). Photo: HOANG MINH
Along with the miraculous existence of well bricks submerged in water for more than a thousand years (estimated based on the age of the temples, pagodas, and Cham ports where the ancient Cham wells were located), it is worth mentioning the feng shui talent of the ancients in finding these eternal water veins.
The remaining ancient Cham wells in Quang Nam are all located in clusters of 2 or more wells. First of all, there is a cluster of 2 round wells in Suoi hamlet (An Thien village, Tam An commune, Phu Ninh district, Quang Nam province), about 1km south of Chien Dan Cham tower.
Located right at the beginning of the village, the well in Mr. Ho Van Xuan's garden is about 4.5m deep, 1m in diameter, the bottom of the well is made of sandstone shaped like a pan, in the middle of the pan is carved deep like a large bucket.
According to Mr. Xuan, this well never dries up and is the source of drinking water for both An Phu Nam and An Phu Bac villages during great droughts.
Ancient Cham well in Mr. Vo Lang's garden (Tam Xuan 1 commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province). Photo: HOANG MINH
The well in Mr. Vo Doi's garden is located at the end of Suoi hamlet, next to Ong Thu stream. This well is about 5m deep, the bottom is not covered with sandstone, and is still the source of drinking water for 4 families living near the well.
Mr. Doi said that during droughts, this well still has about 3 meters of water, but during the dry season, it takes 3 motors and pumps to drain the well after a few hours to clean it.
During years of drought so long that residents tried digging deep into the stream bed but still found no water, this well was a reliable source of drinking water for the people of nearby Hoa Tay village.
The cluster of four ancient Champa wells near Khuong My Cham tower (Tam Xuan 1 commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province) are all square wells.
In addition to an ancient well located about 40m from the foot of the tower, the remaining 3 wells are in the gardens of Mr. Nguyen Van Mich, Mr. Tran Hung Thanh, and Mr. Vo Lang, all located to the west of the tower, the farthest well is only about 400m from the tower. Located on the same mound of land, these 4 wells are all 5 - 7m deep and about 1 - 1.1m wide.
Mr. Nguyen Van Mich (81 years old) said: "During the great drought that lasted nearly 2 years from 1952 to 1953, the people in the surrounding villages relied on the water source of these 4 ancient wells. People came here to get water day and night, but no well dried up, and the water from every well was clear and sweet. The ancients were very good at looking at the land to find water sources!"
Ancient well by the old port, old temple
The remaining cluster of Cham wells in Trung Phuong village (Duy Hai commune, Duy Xuyen) is also located next to famous Cham relics of the past: Trung Phuong port, Trung Phuong pagoda, about 3km southeast of Hoi An city.
As a prosperous port of the ancient Cham people, Trung Phuong was one of the main stops on the "silk road on the sea" - an international maritime trade axis in which the East Sea was a mandatory gateway for ships traveling East - West at that time.
Along with the prosperity of this trading port, the ancient Cham people built a pagoda near the port, using the same type of bricks as those used to build the tower.
There are no documents about this ancient Cham temple, but it was probably built during the Indrapura dynasty - a dynasty that considered Buddhism as the state religion with the establishment of the Buddhist monastery - Dong Duong citadel (Binh Dinh Bac commune, Thang Binh), about 40km southwest of Trung Phuong.
Ancient Cham well next to Khuong My Cham tower cluster. Photo: HOANG MINH
During the prosperous time of Trung Phuong port, Trung Phuong pagoda was considered a pilgrimage site for merchants on their long voyages across the East Sea.
Currently, Trung Phuong Pagoda still preserves a number of statues that were offerings from merchants from merchant ships docking at Trung Phuong port at that time.
The cluster of 9 ancient Cham wells in Trung Phuong is located on a strip about 400m long, a residential area running along the north-south direction of the sand dune adjacent to the sea.
According to Mr. Nguyen Chanh - the owner of a Cham well in his garden, these ancient wells have been the source of drinking water for the villagers for generations. However, recently, some households with ancient wells in their gardens have moved to other places to live, so some of the wells there have been abandoned, some have been buried, and now there are only 5 wells left.
According to Mr. Chanh, of these 9 wells, 3 are square, the rest are round, and the ancients made slightly curved bricks (perhaps they polished the bricks) to make it easier to build round.
There is also a well built in a square section, a round section; there is a well built in a sandstone section, some gaps during construction are tightly filled with coral. In addition, Trung Phuong pagoda also has a Cham well.
Cham well in Mr. Vo Doi's garden (Tam An commune, Phu Ninh district, Quang Nam province). Photo: HOANG MINH
The ancient wells in Trung Phuong are also miraculous water sources. "Before there were drilled wells, I used a motor to draw water from my old well to water my beans all day long and it never dried up. Meanwhile, the wells of our people only need to draw for a few hours before they dry up to the bottom," said Mr. Chanh.
According to the elders in Trung Phuong, the ancients passed down that the Cham wells here in ancient times were the place to supply fresh water for merchant ships docking at Trung Phuong port to trade or rest and then weigh anchor to continue their journey.
Persian and Arabic records from the 8th to the 14th centuries collected by Louis Ferrand showed that the Cham people dug very clear, sweet wells that never ran out of water along the coastal sand dunes to "export" water to foreign merchant ships entering the Champa sea at that time.
Ancient Champa wells - the vibrant "yoni" with eternal cool water sources remaining are precious artifacts in the museum of life.
Hopefully there will be appropriate research and conservation plans so that the thousand-year-old wells will not only not be lost further but also the hidden values of these miraculous water sources can be discovered.
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