To this end he founded the vihara of Dong Duong, already described, and dedicated it to Sri Lakshmindra Lokesvara.[362] This last word is a synonym of Avalokita, which also occurs in the dedicatory inscription but in a fragmentary passage.  Lakshmindra is explained by other passages in the inscription from which we learn that the king’s name before he ascended the throne was Lakshmindra Bhumisvara, so that the Bodhisattva is here adored under the name of the king who erected the vihara according to the custom prevalent in Sivaite temples.  Like those temples this vihara received an endowment of land and slaves of both sexes, as well as gold, silver and other metals.[363]

A king who reigned from 1080 to 1086 was called Paramabodhisattva, but no further epigraphic records of Buddhism are known until the reigns of Jaya Indravarmadeva (1167-1192) and his successor Suryavarmadeva.[364] Both of these monarchs, while worshipping Siva, are described as knowing or practising the jnana or dharma of the Mahayana.  Little emphasis seems to be laid on these expressions but still they imply that the Mahayana was respected and considered part of the royal religion.  Suryavarmadeva erected a building called Sri Herukaharmya.[365] The title is interesting for it contains the name of the Tantric Buddha Heruka.

The grotto of Phong-nha[366] in the extreme north of Champa (province of Quang Binh) must have been a Buddhist shrine.  Numerous medallions in clay bearing representations of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Dagobas have been found there but dates are wanting.

It does not appear that the Hinayanist influence which became predominant in Camboja extended to Champa.  That influence came from Siam and before it had time to traverse Camboja, Champa was already in the grip of the Annamites, whose religion with the rest of their civilization came from China rather than India.  Chinese culture and writing spread to the Cambojan frontier and after the decay of Champa, Camboja marks the permanent limit within which an Indian alphabet and a form of Buddhism not derived through China have maintained themselves.

A large number of the Chams were converted to Mohammedanism but the time and circumstances of the event are unknown.  When Friar Gabriel visited the country at the end of the sixteenth century a form of Hinduism seems to have been still prevalent.[367] It would be of interest to know how the change of religion was effected, for history repeats itself and it is likely that the Moslims arrived in Champa by the route followed centuries before by the Hindu invaders.

There are still about 130,000 Chams in the south of Annam and Camboja.  In the latter country they are all Mohammedans.  In Annam some traces of Hinduism remain, such as mantras in broken Sanskrit and hereditary priests called Basaih.  Both religions have become unusually corrupt but are interesting as showing how beliefs which are radically distinct become distorted and combined in Eastern Asia.[368]