Temples of Angkor: Ta Prohm
- Apr 23, 2017
- 3 min read
Visiting Cambodia, particularly Angkor Wat, has been a life goal of mine for many years. Ever since my History of Southeast Asia class in college at UW Madison, I added this world heritage site to my list of must see places around the world, and believe me, it does not disappoint. We began our journey into the temples of Angkor Archaeological Park with the famous Ta Prohm temple. Although the crowds were pretty heavy in the afternoon when we were there, we still found moments of quiet and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. The fascinating narrative of this place is found among the ruins. The majestic, ancient Khmer kingdom conquered the jungle to build their grand temple which at one time required about 80,000 people to maintain it, but was eventually reclaimed by nature and has only been partially cleared of dense foliage for the visitors who come to admire this mysterious place.
The giant strangler fig, kapok, and silk-cotton trees sprouting from the crumbling ruins serve as a reminder of the power of nature as it reclaims the land.
While many of the other sections of Angkor have been cleared of jungle and restored, the temples at Ta Prohm are only partially manicured, contrasting the haunting architecture of the Khmer empire with the awesome power of nature.
Built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, Ta Prohm temple was abandoned and neglected after the fall of the Khmer empire in the 15th century. Ta Prohm in fact, is the modern name for this temple, meaning "ancient Brahma" (Brahma is the creator god in the sacred Hindu triad, along with Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer). When it was originally built by King Jayavarman VII in 1186, this temple was known as Rajavihara, or "monastary of the king."
Our very kind and patient driver and guide, Kimsour, guided us through the ruins...
Partially preserved and maintained, partially consumed by the jungle, Ta Prohm temple temple offers stunning views from just about every angle!
There was some construction going on while we were there, however, this was less of a restoration and more of an attempt to preserve the temple as it was found in the early 21st century. Since this is one of the most popular temple sites, with a heavy flow of tourist traffic, the work to keep the temple safe for visitors is on-going.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to the temple until the afternoon, which is the busiest time and it was pretty packed full of tourists. (The recommended time to visit is early in the morning.) However, even though we had to weave through the crowds, we did manage to find some peaceful spots, like the hidden Buddha, which our guide pointed out to us, (below)...
Can you spy the hidden Buddha?
Getting closer...
Our guide pointed out how the tree roots grew around Buddha's face as if to create a window to preserve this rare in tact sculpture.
Our guide also pointed out to us the "elephant head" tree roots cascading over the ruins in one section of the main courtyard. Do you spy the elephant's head?
See the elephant's eye, forehead, and trunk?
Winding our way though the crowds around the exterior, we eventually made our way inside and wandered through some of the decayed corridors of the interior spaces...
View through a hole in the roof of one interior corridor...
Impassable but beautiful
Inside Ta Prohm, a nun was offering blessings, a bracelet and incense.
There is a certain beauty within the decay...
Many of the bas-relief sculptures depict Buddhist narratives as well as temple guardians, meditating monks, and various female deities.
A lot of the art has been destroyed or defaced from a combination of centuries of religious upheaval, natural decay, looters who would sell the precious sculptures, and, of course, the destructive reign of the Khmer Rouge.
Decayed, but in tact!
These trees are amazingly gigantic!
This was only the beginning of our adventure in Angkor Wat...
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