Художественное оформление "Кала" в Чампе (Решения по привлечению посетителей к объектам древнего искусства Вьетнама)

In terms of general appearance, Kala was created as a monster with a ferocious aura consisting of human and animal features. Kala has large bulging eyes, a lion's nose, puffy cheeks, two small and pointy ears, and a head with two horns of a young ram. Particularly impressive is that Kala only has jagged sharp teeth and long canines without the lower jaw and chin[1]. This is the image of an unreal animal in the natural world balanced with featyres in the appearance of animals such as qilin, dragons, lions..., clearly influenced by Javanese art. Just like on other works, the ancient Champa artists also, through the art of sculpture, expressed their awareness of balance and perfect beauty with symmetrical shapes and lines on the shaping of the Kala.

In an introductory book about the antiques found in the Quang Nam - Da Nang area, “Saving the mark of Champa, the ancient capital of Simhapura Tra Kieu from 

the I to XI centuries” by the late Father Anton Nguyen Truong Thang introduced a lot of Kala-shaped artifacts such as antefixes, and arches. Kala facets appear in Champa art as a major decorative theme of Hindu as well as Buddhist temple-tower architecture. The image of Kala is widely decorated on the tower floors, on the door lids (tympan) or at the foot of towers, on altars. Kala is considered an incarnation of the god Shiva, symbolising the destruction of time, impermanence, and things that are always changing. In Hinduism, Kala is the god of time. It can be said that the image of Kala is a unique creation of Indian art, symbolising the philosophy of the impermanence of all things, which makes it widely popular in arts of East Asia and Southeast Asia. In these arts, Kala is represented by very specific shaping techniques depending on the aesthetic qualities of each region. In Henri Parmentier's research work ‘Investigation and Inventory of Champa Sites in Central Vietnam” (1909), the `author` commented on the god Kala in G tower, 12^th century and F1 tower, 8^th century at My Son Sanctuary, to have a clear influence of Javanese art. The stone is carved with a picture of the god Kala with a fierce face, baring fangs, rolling back eyes, two carp fish whiskers raised. The god of time Kala is a legendary mascot whose job is to protect against evil spirits, so it is often placed at the entrance, main gate, gate pillars or tower base decoration. Accordingly, zone G has 52 terracotta Kala faces decorated at G1 temple base and 8 Kala decorated faces at G2 temple, Kala faces in G zone are also known as Simhamukha - Lion's face, created with human and animal characteristics as described above. These terracotta masks are decorated in dramatic frames that 

emphasize the importance of the sacred place. These masks are made by craftsmen of many traditional art lines, representing different styles. Besides the Kalas decorated in G area, they are also decorated at the foot of the A1 temple, on F1 temple door pillars, and various other positions on other architectural works in the valley of My Son Sanctuary.

* Kala combined with Makara