Vietnam: Nandi the Mount of Shiva, My Son Museum, My Son, Quang Nam Province

Nandi (Nandin) the Bull was the mythical mount of the god Shiva in Hindu mythology. The kingdom of Champa (Campadesa or nagara Campa) Cham Pa in Vietnamese, ?? Chiêm Thành in Hán Vi?t and Zhàn chéng in Chinese records) was an Indianized kingdom that controlled much of southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832. Champa reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries. Then began a gradual decline under pressure from Ð?i Vi?t, the Vietnamese polity centered in the region of modern Hanoi. In 1471, Viet troops sacked the northern Cham capital of Vijaya, and in 1697 the southern principality of Panduranga became a vassal of the Vietnamese emperor. In 1832, the Vietnamese emperor Minh M?ng annexed the remaining Cham territories. M? Son, a former religious center, and H?i An, one of Champa's main port cities, are now UNESCO World Heritage sites.