Around 1020 a new civilization established itself in the central area of Vietnam. They are known as the Cham or Champa. They followed the Hindu religion and built a lot of temples in the area near Hoi An. The temples are built of brick and some archeologists posit that Cambodian temples followed the Champa temples.
The French discovered the sites accidentally. Although there were no photos at the historic site we were told that the renovations funded by UNESCO are using French photos taken during their occupation of Vietnam. This is the Number 4 Site being helped by the UN.
There are granite stele that tell tales of Hindu gods and goddesses. The stories are written in Sanskrit in a finely carved face of the stele the carving dates from the Eleventh century. When you see the stele it is so small that the lines of text look like horizontal stripes.
One of the temples is dedicated to the god of time. The faces go from baby faces to old men in a square space all around the square temple.
One of the damaged temples had a sort of hairdo of grasses on its top.
There was a dance performance which we saw. Looked a bit like Thai dancing to me.
daily woodring 