On our first day visiting Nha Trang, we went to the historic Po Nagar Temple. This ancient site is in the center of Nha Trang near the Tran Phu bridge which connects the north and south of the city. It is perched up on Cù Lao Mountain (more of a hill) and overlooks the Cai River.
For us it was a 45 minute walk from our hotel, along Nha Trang’s beautiful beach boardwalk. We had a wonderful day exploring this ancient holy site.
ADMISSION PRICE
Visiting the site cost 30,000 VND/person for entry (~1.30 USD)
There is also an option to get a guide for 50,000 VND (~2.13 USD).
HISTORY OF PO NAGAR TEMPLE
It was founded sometime before 781, and completed sometime between the 10th and 13th centuries.
It was built by the Cham people of Vietnam, created in honour of Lady Po Nagar (also called Thiên Y A Na). She is the goddess credited with founding the Cham people. She was also said to have had 97 husbands, and 39 daughters who each became goddesses themselves. What a legend!
The temple changed hands many times since its founding and was attacked, robbed, taken over, and restored by different people and religions. The early Chams were connected with Hinduism, and Po Nagar is considered a Hindu temple. In the 17th century, it was taken over from the Chams by the Vietnamese people.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Today it contains many relics, statues, and ancient temples. We enjoyed walking around the grounds and taking in the different monuments and beautiful landscaping.
The site has a lower area with columns and a shrine that looks up at the upper towers.
The upper level has four towers. You can enter the largest one to pay your respects, but as it is a holy site, you are asked to dress politely, if you want to enter. I believe they did have some cover-ups available to buy or rent if you didn’t come prepared.
We arrived around the same time as a number of big tour buses which flooded the grounds with people. Luckily, we were not under any time constraints, so we were able to take it in slowly and wait out the crowds. They didn’t stay long, so we soon had the place almost to ourselves.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring this ancient site and learning about the history of the Cham people. It was an interesting and inexpensive way to spend an afternoon, with beautiful sights and views of the city.
So much fun!