The Museum of Cham Sculpture is a popular tourist destination located in Da Nang in central Vietnam. It was founded in 1915 to preserve the archeological finds of the ancient Champa kingdom. It now houses the largest collection of Cham sculpture anywhere in the world.

The Champa kingdom flourished all along the central and southern coast of Vietnam for roughly a thousand years between 500-1500 AD. It was principally a coastal civilization involved in shipping & trade. Most of its major cities were seaports on important trade routes linking China, Indonesian and India.

The history of the Champa Kingdom was one of intermittent conflict and cooperation with the people of Java, the Khmer of Cambodia and the Dai Viet in northern Vietnam. It was to the Dai Viet that Champa finally lost its independence around 1500 AD.

The artistic legacy of Champa consists primarily of brick buildings like those at My Son and numerous sandstone sculptures. Some metal statues and decorative items have also survived. Notable pieces include bronze statues dated circa 900 AD and an even older bronze statue of Buddha.

In the early 20th century some French explorers and scholars such as Henri Parmentier and Jean Boisselier were able to take photographs, make drawings, and write flowing descriptions of many ancient works which have since been destroyed.

Unfortunately much of the classical Cham art that once existed has been lost to the ravages of time and human vandals, looters, and conquerors. For example, the early 14th century Chinese historian Ma Duanlin reported the existence of a large statue of the Buddha made of gold and silver. In the 6th century a Chinese general named Yuen Kan was reported to sack the capital of Champa, making off with many rare and precious objects including tens of thousands of pounds of gold in ingots coming from statues he had smelted. And in the 7th century another Chinese general named Liu Fang is reported to have made off with eighteen massive tablets of gold commemorating the 18 previous kings of Champa. None of these treasures have ever been recovered.

The Cham kings have left us stone inscriptions describing the gifts of now lost precious objects they made to the shrines and sanctuaries of the realm. Noteworthy here was their practice of donating decorated metallic sleeves (kosa) and diadems (mukuta) to the divinities with which they were affiliated. One such Cham Kosa has survived and it is crafted in the face of Siva as can be identified by the third eye in the center of the forehead.

Some of the original Cham buildings can still be visited in the Vietnamese countryside. The most important remaining sites include My Son near Da Nang, Po Nagar near Nha Trang, and Po Klaung Garai near Phan Rang.

For a fascinating glimpse of ancient peoples and civilisations make sure when you travel to Vietnam you go to Da Nang and see the treasures on display at the Museum of Cham Sculpture.