At the Museum of Traditional Medicine in Ho Chi Minh City, my tour guide led me to the rooftop where we entered this little pagoda.
It was a replica of a Cham temple. The Cham are an ethnic minority spread out around Southeast Asia -- although in Vietnam, they're concentrated in the southern part of the country. Most Cham are Muslims but a minority practice a unique religion that resembles Hinduism. (I think this is mostly correct info!)
These women here are holding up a large linga symbol, a phallic sign of fertility. I missed most of the juicy details because my tour guide's accent was too thick for me to catch much. The linga dominated the center of the small pagoda; here is its basin.
This plaque reads: "The symbol of belief in sex. The belief in the wish of multiplication of the nature and the people."I am not sure I believe in the wish of multiplication of too many more people.
I loved this gentle statue of a woman holding a jar, which was tucked away in the corner.Below is another linga, adorned with many jutting boobies. And that's my reflection, ogling them!
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