Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture : Dong Duong Gallery

This is the pedestal of the main shrine where the bodhisattva Laskmidra - Lokesvara was worshipped. The bodhisattva is said to be the “personal deity” of King Indravarman II and also of the Đồng Dương Monastery.

The pedestal consists of thirty blocks of carved stone depicting the life of the Buddha.

Narrative scenes, as suggested by Henri Parmentier, include some of the following episodes:
- Queen Maya at the Lumbini grove at the time of Siddhartha’s birth
- A bow contest between Siddhartha and other men to win the hand of Gopa, a beautiful girl.
- Siddhartha cutting off his hair and exchanging garments with a hunter to start his ascetic life

- Chandaka – the faithful groom of Siddhartha – leading the horse Kanthaka back to the palace after the flight of Siddhartha.
- The assault of the demon Mara and his daughters to prevent Siddhartha from achieving Enlightenment.

Researchers are still debating the interpretation of this pedestal.

In 1978 local farmers accidentally found a statue of a female deity cast in bronze, which measured at nearly 1.15m. This work is the largest bronze sculpture of Champa that has been discovered so far. It is also one of the most important bronze sculptures of Tara in Southeast Asia.

The deity is portrayed in the standing posture with two hands pushing forward. The left-hand holds a lotus whilst the right-hand holds a conch. Both attributes are missing now. Her torso is almost naked and features ample breasts. Her garment consists of two overlapping skirts draping around her waist and stretching to the ankle.

The face has a stern expression with jointed eyebrows, flat nostrils, and thick lips, showing typical characteristics of the Đồng Dương art style. Her hair runs down along the ears in long locks and is plaited in vertical braids. The frontal braids show the image of Amitabha Buddha.

Based on the classic features of the Đồng Dương style seen on this sculpture, the broken lotus and the image of Amitabha attached to her hair, researchers have suggested that the sculpture is the embodiment of Laskmindra-Lokesvara, the personal deity of King Indravarman II as mentioned in the Đồng Dương inscription. Five years after the discovery of this statue, Jean Boisselier suggested that the statue may depict “Tara”. Tara is a Buddhist deity and Tara embodies the feminine aspect of Compassion.

The Đồng Dương complex consisted of successive enclosures on an east-west axis. Dvarapalas, “demigods guarding the gateways”, were placed in pairs on either side of the entrance pavilions of the shrine’s four enclosures. They remain the largest sculptures in the Đồng Dương style, and are also considered masterpieces of the Cham sculpture in terms of carving techniques and aesthetic value of Cham sculptural art.

The Dvarapala stands symmetrically next to another one. Both of them have the same posture, body gestures and garments. Each tramples in victory on an animal with legs outstretched and bent down whilst faces posing a threatening look. The animal, on which the Dvarapala stands, disgorges small human figures small human figures with hands grasping a weapon and faces looking upwards to the giant and victorious guardians as if they are calling for help.

One hand holds a short sword at head height and the other hand is placed in front of the chest

The statue jewelry includes armbands, bracelets, crosswise cord over the chest and anklets. All of them are decorated with three-headed snakes.