Published:  16:17 Saturday - December 10, 2011

Am Chua is an old-aged historical and cultural remain of the Agarwood home land.Am Chua festival is held with many traditional rituals which represents and preserves many cultural and spiritual values with the soul of the Agarwood home land.

• Tham Temple to Worship a Brave Woman

Am Chua is an old-aged historical and cultural remain of the Agarwood home land, closely associated with the tradition of worshiping Thien Y A Na. Along with the legend of Thien Y A Na, the remain clearly expresses the remarkable the cultural exchange between the Viet and Cham nations.

The entrance gate of Am Chua

The temple is located halfway up Mount Dai An (also known as Mount Dua) in Dai Dien Trung village, Dien Dien commune, Dien Khanh district. The temple is used to worship Thien Y A Na, the Mother of Land, who illuminated and then taught people how to earn their living and live on. The tradition of worshiping Thien Y A Na was derived from the The Mother of Land from the Cham. More interestingly, the Vietnamese who settled in this land made similar the tradition into their own. Based to that, Thien Y A Na descended on Mount Dai An and then appeared to be seen as God in Thap Ba, Nha Trang. A saying has been spread until the present time: “Be human in Am Chua, Become God in Thap Ba” as a confirmation about the cultural connection between the Viet and Cham nations.

 The construction time of the temple still remains unknown, but the temple has been renovated many times and has become a solemn worshiping place, honoring the legendary history of the Holly Mother, Thien Y A Na. The stairway up to the temple consists of over 100 steps which are made of marble. Going through the archway, you can access the main temple. The temple is comprised of a porch and the main worshiping area. On the roof of the both places, we can see the sculpture of the four sacred supernatural animals: Long, Ly, Quy, Phung (Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise and Phoenix). Inside the porch, there is a pair of sentences sculpted, written in old Chinese about the legend of Thien Y A Na. In the middle of the main area is the worshiping cabinet. The temple has been awarded with many ordinations from the Nguyen dynasty and they have been kept and restored until now. One of these was from the King Tu Duc, allowing the worship of the Holly Mother, Thien Y A Na. It helps prove that the cultural value from the Cham was confirmed and appreciated from a long time ago.

The colourful  of Am Chua Festival

 Every year on the first day of March (lunar calendar), Am Chua festival is held, attracting a huge amount of pilgrims. With many traditional rituals such as dancing, singing, and ceremonial demonstrations, it represents and preserves many cultural and spiritual values with the soul of the Agarwood home land.

 Not only being an old-aged historical and cultural remain, the temple is a part of the local history of the revolutionary struggle of the army and people in Dien Dien commune, as well as in Dien Khanh district. Standing in the front yard is a 350-year-old big tree. During the struggles against the French colonialism and American imperialism, the tree was used several times to fly the flag to arouse and encourage the patriotism, also to prove the force’s power. Behind the temple, there are still ruins of bunkers, trenches made of stone built by the French from the very old days.

 With the particular values ​​of culture and revolutionary history, Am Lord was ranked the national-level remain in 1999.