The Cham of Vietnam: History, Society and Art

The Integral Relationship between Hindu Temple Sculpture and Architecture: A New Approach to the Arts of Champa

277 The Integral Relationship between Hindu Temple Sculpture and Architecture: A New Approach to the Arts of Champa Trần Kỳ Phương During the twentieth century, research on the history of Champa art was mainly conducted by French archaeologists and art historians such as Henri Parmentier, Jean-Yves Claeys, Philippe Stern and Jean Boisselier. The methodology used by these scholars focused specifically on either architecture or sculpture. In fact, however, Cham religious art represents an integral relationship between the two — that is, a relationship between the temple and its pedestal or icon. This paper deals with the relationship between the structural nature of Hindu temples and the sandstone square pedestals installed in the sanctum sanctorum (holy of holies) of monuments constructed during the phase of Cham culture lasting from the seventh century through the third quarter of the ninth century CE. The analysis employed here differs from that of previous historians of Cham art, who have made a clear distinction between architecture and sculpture and formulated separate chronologies for their respective evolutions. This study uses an integrated approach to these two media by examining the corbel1 roof temples and sculpted pedestals from each period, which are c฀h฀a฀p฀t฀e฀r฀ 11 11 ChamViet.indd 277 1/17/11 11:32:50 AM Trần Kỳ Phương 278 recognized to be physically and conceptually linked, in order to provide a better understanding of the arts of Champa. The creation of interior space by means of corbel construction is characteristic of Cham religious architecture. With this type of structure, bricks are stacked in a slightly offset manner and are used on the spire to support the roof — a feature which Cham architecture shared with that of the Khmer and Central Javanese. Unlike the true-arch technique based on keystones, used since ancient Roman times, the Cham technology made it difficult to create large internal spaces. With Cham architecture, although the construction of large structures was required, the width of the corbel structure was kept small, resulting in tall structures with comparatively large internal spaces. The most commonly used construction material was baked brick. Bricks of different lengths and thicknesses were used for a variety of different purposes and were rubbed together until they fitted perfectly. In many cases the exterior of the building was sculpted, but this was done only after all the bricks had been laid and the building completed. The main characteristics of Cham architecture were the flat foundation of the main sanctuary, the square cylindrical cellar and the three-stage pyramid-shaped roof. The latter was standard for the roofs of sanctuaries, while boat-shaped roofs were used for treasuries and other structures. Although many Cham religious buildings were erected during the tenth and the eleventh centuries, it is thought that a turning point was reached with the construction of Indrapura and Đồng Dương around 875 because of the large scale of the complex temple towers built with a perfect corbel technique which were a common feature of this period. King Indravarman II introduced Mahayana Buddhism into the Hinduism which had been the religion of the aristocracy up until that time. This is thought to have been part of his efforts to consolidate the kingdom, which included both political and economic reforms as well.2 As for earlier periods, recent archaeological excavations at Trà Kiệu in Quảng Nam — formerly Simhapura, capital of the Amaravati polity — have presented some very significant findings regarding the first phase of Cham religious architecture, lasting from the fourth through the seventh centuries. These excavations began in 1993 and have been conducted by an international team of Vietnamese, British and Japanese archaeologists. One of the participants, Ian Glover, has reported that the deposits at Hoàn Châu (Trà Kiệu site) were over three metres deep with superimposed damaged brick floors, underlain by layers of gravel and sand, and contained a series of fragmentary brick and stone 11 ChamViet.indd 278 1/17/11 11:32:50 AM Hindu Temple Sculpture and Architecture 279 “columns” which had been dug into the deposits to a depth of at least one metre and which we believe to be basal supports for large timber posts installed to support a heavy tiled roof, the tiles from which were scattered through the deposit. By the end of the 2000 season enough of these had been found...