Logistics and Legitimation: Religious Pluralism in the Bà Tower, Nha Trang City, Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract: Today, in the space of Poh Nagar Stupa in Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa province, Vietnam, there exists a diverse abundance of religious practices. For many people from Bóng village and the Vietnamese communities who work as seafarers around the area, the deity located in the Stupa is the holy Mother Thiên Y A Na Diễn Ngọc Phi, a local goddess. For other Việt, especially the members of the Patronage Association of the Bà Stupa, the Goddess that they worship in the main Stupa is the embodiment of Nam Hải Guan Yin Bodhisattva. In the consciousness and practices of the Chăm people, especially the Chăm groups from Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces, the supreme deity in the Stupa is their Poh Nagar Goddess of Land. In tandem with this diversity of religious beliefs is a symbiosis of different ritual practices. The Chăm people practice the ritual in the traditional way of worshiping the Poh Nagar Mother Goddess of the Land. The Việt people of the Patronage Association practice Buddhist rituals. The ritual practice of the Bóng villagers follows procedures for rituals dedicated to the tutelary God of a Việt traditional village festival. Viewed from the practitioner's perspective, the co- existence of the diversity of religious practices at the Stupa reveals an ongoing need for compromise and sometimes contestation.