An inscription[354] of 811 A.D. celebrates the dual deity Śankara-Nârâyaṇa. It is noticeable that Nârâyaṇa is said to have held up Mt. Govardhana and is apparently identified with Kṛishṇa. Râma and Kṛishṇa are both mentioned in an inscription of 1157 which states that the whole divinity of Vishṇu was incarnate in King Jaya Harivarman I[355]. But neither allusions to Vishṇu nor figures of him[356] are numerous and he plays the part of an accessory though respected personage. Garuḍa, on whom he rides, was better known than the god himself and is frequently represented in sculpture.
The Śakti of Śiva, amalgamated as mentioned with a native goddess, received great honour (especially at Nhatrang) under the names of Umâ, Bhagavatî, the Lady of the city (Yang Po Nagar) and the goddess of Kauthâra. In another form or aspect she was called Maladâkuṭhâra.[357] There was also a temple of Ganeśa (Śri-Vinâyaka) at Nhatrang but statues of this deity and of Skanda are rare.
The Chinese pilgrim I-Ching, writing in the last year of the seventh century, includes Champa (Lin-I) in the list of countries which "greatly reverence the three jewels" and contrasts it with Fu-nan where a wicked king had recently almost exterminated Buddhism. He says "In this country Buddhists generally belong to the Arya-sammiti school, and there are also a few followers of the Aryasarvâstivâdin school." The statement is remarkable, for he also tells us that the Sarvâstivâdins were the predominant sect in the Malay Archipelago and flourished in southern China. The headquarters of the Sammitîyas were, according to the accounts of both Hsüan Chuang and I-Ching, in western India though, like the three other schools, they were also found in Magadha and eastern India. We also hear that the brother and sister of the Emperor Harsha belonged to this sect and it was probably influential. How it spread to Champa we do not know, nor do the inscriptions mention its name or indicate that the Buddhism which they knew was anything but the mixture of the Mahayana with Śivaism[358] which prevailed in Camboja.
I-Ching's statements can hardly be interpreted to mean that Buddhism was the official religion of Champa at any rate after 400 A.D., for the inscriptions abundantly prove that the Śivaite shrines of Mi-son and Po-nagar were so to speak national cathedrals where the kings worshipped on behalf of the country. But the Vo-can inscription (? 250 A.D.), though it does not mention Buddhism, appears to be Buddhist, and it would be quite natural that a dynasty founded about 150 A.D. should be Buddhist but that intercourse with Camboja and probably with India should strengthen Śivaism. The Chinese annals mention[359] that 1350 Buddhist books were carried off during a Chinese invasion in 605 A.D. and this allusion implies the existence of Buddhism and monasteries with libraries. As in Camboja it was perhaps followed by ministers rather than by kings. An inscription found[360] in southern Champa and dated as 829 A.D. records how a sthavira named Buddhanirvâṇa erected two vihâras and two temples (devakula) to Jina and Śankara (Buddha and Śiva) in honour of his deceased father. Shortly afterwards there came to the throne Indravarman II (860-890 A.D.), the only king of Champa who is known to have been a fervent Buddhist. He did not fail to honour Śiva as the patron of his kingdom but like Asoka he was an enthusiast for the Dharma[361]. He desires the knowledge of the Dharma: he builds monasteries for the sake of the Dharma: he wishes to propagate it: he even says that the king of the gods governs heaven by the principles of Dharma. He wishes to lead all his subjects to the "yoke and abode of Buddha," to "the city of deliverance."