'Champa' once resided upon the banks of the river Ganga within the Indian state of Bihar and its known today as 'Bhagalpur' but some 5000 years ago it was 'Champa' the capital of 'Anga' the kingdom of the great warrior Karna and part of the powerful state of Maghadha.

 

As well as playing a prominent role in the history known as 'Mahabharata' the city of Champa some 2000 years ago was the central stage for the prominence of the Jain and Buddhists religions, indeed the very name of 'Bihar' is from 'Vihara' a word from Sanskrit which describes a Jain and Buddhist 'monastery' 'temple' or 'academy'.

 

As the great emperor Ashoka gave patronage to the Buddhist religion, its newly acquired power and importance allowed it to spread throughout the lands as it made its entrance into the great Buddhist enclave of 'Tibet' as well as the islands of Indonesia and the Indo/Chinese peninsula.

 

 

Buddha was said to have visited six major cities in his lifetime of which Champa was one and the Jain preceptor 'Mahavira' whose name means great ( maha ) hero ( vira ) is said to have spent three of his monsoon retreats in the city of Champa.

 

It was a time of great philosophical and cultural activity and from this came some of the worlds first universities such as the university of Bihar known as the 'Vikramshila' with its 100 teachers and 1000 students, flourishing for over 400 years until 1193 when it was destroyed by the muslims.

 

Bihar also built the great 'Nalanda' a university which was visited by students from all over the world and one which flourished for some 700 years between the 5th and 12th centuries, its glories coming to an end at the hands of the same muslim ruler which destroyed Vikramshila.

 

 

As well as a cultural centre of learning, Champa was also known to be very wealthy due to the trade which flowed across the Ganges river and according to their history the Kings and the leaders of the Champa dynasty decided to set up another Champa within South East Asia bringing their culture to Vietnam.

 

Along the coast of Vietnam, the Champa dynasty set up the kingdom of 'Indrapura' which is now known as 'Da Nang' they set up 'Amaravati' which is now 'Quang Nam' they set up 'Vijaya' which is now 'Qui Nhon' they set up 'Khauthara' which is now 'Nha Trang' and they set up 'Panduranga' which is now 'Phan Rang'.

 

Such was the influence of the Champas that what we now call the Chinese Sea was known for centuries as the 'Champa Sea' and this influence was also seen in the neighbouring countries such as 'Laos' and 'Cambodia' where they ruled sizeable portions of land.

 

 

The pictures which accompany this article are all archeological artefacts which are exhibited in the Cham museum which resides in the Vietnam province of Danang, artefacts which have been discovered throughout the land of Vietnam.

 

One of the first Champa kings to rule in Vietnam was 'Sri Mara Raja Kula' a name which was found upon one of the artefacts and from that which was readable his name is clearly present and the kings which followed were named 'Bhadravarman' 'Gangaraja' 'Manoratharvaman' and 'Isanavarman' whose meaning is one who takes shelter ( varman ) of Rudra ( isana ) and all of these are Sanskrit names.

 

Above we see Lord Siva dancing as 'Nataraj' part of the remains of the My Son temple complex in Vietnam. Before the Vietnam war it was one of the longest inhabited archeological sites in Indochina, much of it destroyed by American carpet bombing, as we know wars not only kill people, they kill history.

 

 

Above we find the 4000 year old deity of Lord Visnu which was found in Vietnam showing how the Champa dynasty was simply following in the footsteps of many Vedic dynasties which go back tens of thousands of years.

 

The artefact was found in the Mekong delta, a name which comes from the Sanskrit and Vedic 'Ma Ganga' meaning 'Mother Ganga' and all of this simply confirms what Vedantist have always known, the further we go back in time the more the world becomes Vedic.

 

"This was the time of the great Indian expansion, when seafaring merchants fanned out across the Indian Ocean and brought to Southeast Asia a seething ferment of new ideas. From Burma to Indonesia, they established a chain of settlements along the coasts from which they traded for gold, precious stones, perfumes, and spices. The merchants brought with them their religion, Hinduism and Buddhism, their literary language, Sanskrit, their art and technology; and their science and mathematics."  -  Splendors of the Past: Lost Cities of the Ancient World - National Geographic Society. p.186-190).