Honoring the Po Nagar Tower Relic and the agarwood exploitation profession

On the evening of July 10, at the Po Nagar Tower Special National Monument (North Nha Trang Ward), the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province held a ceremony to announce and receive the Certificate of ranking as a Special National Architectural and Artistic Monument of Po Nagar Tower and the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Khanh Hoa Agarwood Exploitation and Processing Knowledge.

Attending the ceremony were representatives of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education ; the National Cultural Heritage Council; the Department of Cultural Heritage - Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; leaders of Khanh Hoa province, departments, branches, localities, dignitaries, the Cham community following Brahmanism, and a large number of people and tourists.

At the ceremony, Mr. Tran Quoc Nam, Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, emphasized the organization of the Ceremony to announce and receive the titles of the special national architectural and artistic relic of Po Nagar Tower and the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Khanh Hoa Agarwood Exploitation and Processing Knowledge to honor the special cultural heritage values of the province in many aspects of culture, art, architecture, and history. Thereby, contributing to the orientation and development of plans to manage, preserve and promote more effectively the values of traditional cultural heritages of the nation, as a premise to link with promoting the brand of Khanh Hoa province and promoting economic - tourism development.

Po Nagar Towers, Khanh Hoa province. (Photo: Nguyen Thanh/VNA)

The Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee also requested that the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism continue to research, advise and propose specific solutions to effectively preserve and promote the unique traditional cultural values of the province, associated with the National Special Architectural and Artistic Relic of Po Nagar Tower and the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Knowledge of exploiting and processing agarwood in Khanh Hoa.

At the event, a large number of people and tourists enjoyed two special art programs including “Legend of Motherland” and “Pride of a thousand-year cultural heritage.” The elaborately and impressively staged performances vividly recreated the cultural and historical beauty of Khanh Hoa, and at the same time welcomed Khanh Hoa province into a new era, an era of rising up with the nation.

Previously, on January 17, 2025, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 152/QD-TTg on ranking the Po Nagar Tower Architectural and Artistic Relic as a Special National Relic.

Then, on June 3, 2025, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed Decision No. 1651/QD-BVHTTDL announcing the inclusion of "Knowledge of exploiting and processing Khanh Hoa agarwood" in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage in the category of Folk Knowledge.

Po Nagar Tower was built from about the 8th to the 13th century, located on Cu Lao hill, next to Cai river. The tower was recognized as a National Architectural and Artistic Monument since 1979.

In particular, the Po Nagar Festival was included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2012. Po Nagar has special values in terms of architecture, art, culture and history. Currently, the relic still preserves 14 royal decrees, 28 inscriptions on steles and many rare artifacts.

Through the process of cultural exchange, interweaving and acculturation in the nation's history, Po Nagar Tower contains typical values of both the Cham and Vietnamese peoples through the image of the goddess Po Nagar.

This is not only a place of worship but also a center of Mother Goddess worship in the South Central provinces, where the Vietnamese and Cham communities pray for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, a peaceful life, prosperity and happiness.

Besides Po Nagar Tower, Khanh Hoa province is also famous as "Land of Agarwood", the image of goddess Po Nagar/Thien YA Na is honored by agarwood artisans as the founder of the profession.

Awarding the Certificate of Knowledge on Exploitation and Processing of Khanh Hoa Agarwood into the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. (Photo: Nguyen Thanh/VNA)

In Khanh Hoa, there are currently many craft villages, cooperatives, craft groups, and households making agarwood, creating unique and famous handicraft products such as agarwood incense, agarwood bracelets, agarwood statues, agarwood essential oil, etc.

Many agarwood products of Khanh Hoa are of high quality, certified as OCOP products, contributing to affirming the brand "Khanh Hoa agarwood" domestically and internationally.

The agarwood exploitation profession in Khanh Hoa is being preserved by the people and preserving folk knowledge, maintaining experience to develop, recreate and craft, enriching and diversifying agarwood products.

These products not only serve the needs of use but also become unique tourist gifts, bearing the mark of "Agarwood Land - Khanh Hoa Province" for tourists./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/vinh-danh-di-tich-thap-ba-po-nagar-va-nghe-khai-thac-tram-huong-post1049062.vnp