From the Mariamman Temple in Hồ Chí Minh City Thinking of the Goddess Cult of Vietnamese

Abstract

The Mariamman temple was the place of worship for the Indian community in Hồ Chí Minh City. Indian has built many places of worship since they have settled in Sài Gòn. At present, there are three places of worship for the Hindu Indian such as the Mariamman temple (called the Goddess pagoda - Chùa Bà, the Goddess pagoda of Hinduism - Chùa Bà Ấn giáo, the Black Goddess pagoda - Chùa Bà Đen), the Subramanian Swami temple (called the God pagoda - Chùa Ông), and the Sri Then day Yutthapani temple. Especially, the Goddess Mariamman temple is an attractive place of worship for Vietnamese as well as Indian while two other male God temples are solitary which intended for the Indian. Whether the differences derived from the cult of the goddess that imprinted in Vietnamese culture or not? This paper tries to answer this question.