Ancient consciousness of the Southern Central Highlands

Part III: ANCIENT CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SOUTHERN CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

Right from the first days of excavation, at the Cat Tien archaeological site (in Cat Tien district, Lam Dong province), scientists have found linga - yoni idols and Shiva statues along with temple architecture with many religious meanings. However, until now, the real owner of this ancient land is still a matter of debate. Most recently, a discovery of special significance as a new evidence that can end the debate that has lasted for several decades is the "mukha linga phenomenon".

GOD SHIVA AND THE SYMBOL OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY

Journalist - archaeologist Dinh Thi Nga, who discovered the Cat Tien archaeological site,

Statue of Lord Shiva

She said: “The entire architecture of the temples in Cat Tien was built according to the Brahmanical standards: square plan, many levels with tower doors, stone door panels, pedestal pillars, door frames, linga idols, yoni, Ganesha statues…”. She added: “That standard was carried out by the talented hands and minds of many generations of religious architects. The 20 tower temples and tomb temples are completely different in details but blend together in style, reaching into space a mysterious, majestic spiritual world…”.

In many archaeological sites around the world, the most commonly found image of the god Shiva is the image of a young woman with many arms in a standing dancing position, commonly the statues of 8 arms and 6 arms. However, at the Cat Tien archaeological site, in the most recent excavation, archaeologists found a relief with a statue of the god Shiva with the image of a bare-chested woman, holding a lotus leaf and a lotus flower in both hands. "The god Shiva on his way from the East Sea to Vietnam and up to the Southern Central Highlands was simplified and had a more "peaceful" meaning!" - commented a reputable scientist. Accordingly, instead of having 8 or 6 arms, holding objects such as a trident, a dagger, a cup of kerosene..., when Shiva "arrived" at the Cat Tien holy land, he only had two arms and held a lotus leaf and a lotus flower - symbols of peace and prosperity.

MENU - THE SACRED MOUNTAIN OF THE GODS

Still influenced by Hinduism, at the Cat Tien archaeological site, the temple-tower architecture is the main architecture. However, the concept of "tower" and "temple" of the ancient indigenous people of the Southern Central Highlands has changed and is not completely the same as the prototype of "tower" and "temple" architecture according to the Hindu concept. The typical architectural form according to Brahmanism culture is Sikhara, also known as "tower". "Sikhara" is understood as "pointed peak" or "pointed mountain peak" - representing Mount Menu. In Brahmanism, Menu is the mountain range of gods, in which the supreme god resides on the highest peak. Mount Menu was transformed into Sikhara architecture with the name "kalan", meaning "temple"; later, "kalan" was identified with "tower".

Images of Cat Tien archaeological site

Scientists believe that the architecture of the Cat Tien relic is still of the ancient religious architecture type but has its own characteristics compared to the religious architecture of many relics bearing the mark of Hindu culture. Through excavations of the Cat Tien archaeological site, scientists have found at mound 6A a fairly complete temple with unique features expressed in the form of a square tower temple architecture with many corners bent in front of the eastern facade of the tower. From the current state of the relic, it can be concluded that the concept of "tower" and "tower temple" along with the "sacred mountain peak" Menu of the gods of the ancient residents along the Dong Nai river has had certain changes.

SHIVA MUKHA - SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE OWNER OF CAT TIEN HOLY LAND

Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh, Head of the Cat Tien Relic Management Board, revealed: “Up to now, scientists have debated a lot about the issue of the owner of the Cat Tien sanctuary but have not yet reached a conclusion. Therefore, it is very possible that the recent discovery of the only mukha image on a linga in the “Shiva culture” background is revealing many issues for researchers to pay attention to and… continue to debate about the ancient owner of this land.”

In Indian culture, and more closely in Cham culture, Shiva is a "trinitarian" Brahman god who is honored as the supreme god. The term "trinitarian" is used because, according to the Cham people's concept, in just one god Shiva, there are three other gods (expressed in three meanings): the god of creation, the god of destruction, and the god of protection of all species. In the ancient Cham community, Hinduism of the Shiva sect was often represented in the form of linga (male genitalia) for worship. Mukha linga - the image of Shiva in human form or human image carved on linga - is rarely found in ancient archaeological sites.

That shows that the linga and yoni in the whole "linga - yoni" idol - the symbol of creation (god Brahma), destruction (god Shiva) and preservation (Vinus) in Cham culture when absorbing Hinduism - had the creativity of "personifying" a certain king or a certain "living saint" in real life associated with the "linga - yoni" symbol for worship. On a set of linga - yoni in Cat Tien there is also such a mukha, a rare phenomenon next to the mukha linga in the heart of Po Klong Garai tower (Ninh Thuan) worshiping King Po Klong Garai.

According to Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh's prediction, the carving on the linga in Cat Tien is a mukha of the ancient people of the Southern Central Highlands. According to our observations, it is an image

a human face, 5cm wide and 7cm long. The face has faded a lot but the two ears are still quite clear with a length of about 4cm. Observing the top of the linga, we also realized that the dark color is quite clearly shown compared to the color of the entire stone block. This proves that this linga - yoni set was performed quite a lot by the ancient residents here (by touching the head of the linga and pouring "holy water" on it so that the holy water flows into the sacred water trough).

“This is the only linga found at the Cat Tien archaeological site that has a human face carved into it. However, in Cat Tien, up to now, no ancient documents have been found related to the owner of the holy site. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to determine who the only mukha here is, whether he is a “king” or a “living saint”!” - Mr. Minh said.

And so, although there is another revelation about the secrets of the Cat Tien holy land that were buried deep underground for many years through the "human face" on the linga representing the god Shiva here, until now, the "secret" about a certain mukha of Cat Tien is still... a secret.

More information:

+ Cat Tien relic is located along the Dong Nai River, in Cat Tien district, Lam Dong province, stretching about 15km through Duc Pho and Phu My communes of Cat Tien district. According to many scientists, this relic may extend to the other side of the Dong Nai River in Dong Nai province, and all the way to Binh Phuoc province, bordering Lam Dong province. In Binh Phuoc, recently, scientists have also excavated a few archaeological artifacts believed to be "Cat Tien culture".

+ One of the first two people to discover the Cat Tien relic in 1986 was Ms. Dinh Thi Nga, a retired journalist and also an archaeologist. During a business trip, Ms. Nga and another officer from the same agency accidentally dug up some "ancient" artifacts in the Cat Tien area. From those artifacts, the Cat Tien archaeological relic was gradually revealed and received the attention of many scientists in the country and the world.

+ There are currently two opinions about the real owner of the ancient land of Cat Tien: The owner of this place is the ancient Ma people, who once formed the "Ma kingdom" in history; but later, this kingdom declined. The second opinion: This is the holy land of a tribe that migrated from outside.

Due to war reasons, they "merged" with some indigenous tribes. Here, they established a "kingdom" with a flourishing religious culture but later declined.

Article and photos:Khac Dung

The Thanh