The Legend of Po Rome Tower

Po Rome is the most recently built of the Cham towers along the central coast, standing in Hau Sanh Cham village. It honors King Po Rome — born Jakathaot — who ruled the kingdom of Champa for nearly thirty turbulent years (1627–1651). Revered by the Cham as a deity, he is remembered for reconciling tensions between the Balamon (Brahmanist) and Muslim Cham communities, for building irrigation works such as the Ca Tieu, Chavin, and Maren dams, and for maintaining good relations with neighboring kingdoms.

Built along the same architectural lines as Po Klong Garai, the complex originally comprised a main tower, a gate tower, and a fire tower; only the main tower survives, square in plan and roughly eight meters tall. Inside, it enshrines the king and his Ede queen along with two sacred bull statues; its false niches are carved with deities seated in prayer. A small shrine beside the tower is believed to honor the king's Bani queen.

Archaeological excavations in 2010 uncovered several carved stone slabs together with the remains of a "ghur" grave, thought to belong to the king's Bani wife — evidence of the religious and social shifts underway in the final era of the Champa kingdom.

Po Rome remains a living tower today: the local Cham community gathers here for four major annual rites — the Prayer for the Faith ceremony in the fourth Cham month, the Kate festival in the seventh month, a ceremony honoring the Mother of the Land in the ninth month, and the Opening of the Tower Doors in the eleventh month.