Gateway to the Forest City
The monastic complex of Ta Prohm is one of the largest sites at Angkor. Originally constructed as a Buddhist monastery, it once housed 3,140 villages, took 79,365 people to maintain the temple, including 18 high priests, 2,740 officials, 2,202 assistants and 615 dancers.
Jungle Temple
Intentionally left untouched by archaeologists, except for the clearing of a path for visitors and structural strengthening to stave off further deterioration. Because of its natural state, it is possible to experience at this temple some of the wonder of the early explorers, when they came upon these monuments in the middle of the 19th century..
Luscious Green
Shrouded in jungle, the temple is ethereal in aspect and conjures up a romantic aura.
Temple High
Built in approximately 1186, the temple was one of Jayavarman VII's first major temple projects. It was dedicated to his mother.
Roots Overflowing
Trunks of trees twist amongst stone pillars and walls. Fig, banyan and kapok trees spread their gigantic roots over, under and in between the stones, probing walls and terraces apart, as their branches and leaves intertwine to form a roof above the structures.
Octopussy
Everywhere around you, one can appreciate nature in its dual role of destroyer and consoler, strangling on the one hand, and healing on the other; no sooner splitting the carved stones asunder than she dresses their wounds with cool, velvety mosses, and binds them with her most delicate tendrils.
Entwined & Engrossed
Exploring Ta Prohm gives an unique other-world experience. The temple is cloaked in dappled shadow, it's crumbling towers and walls locked in the slow muscular embrace of mother nature.
Standing In The Corner
Bas-reliefs and carvings walls are carpeted by lichen, moss and creeping plants, and shrubs sprout from the roofs of monumental porches.
Relaxing
The complex is a series of long, low buildings standing on one level connected with passages and concentric galleries framing the main sanctuary. Within are 260 statues, 39 towers and over 500 groups of buildings.
Hide & Seek
Ta Prohm is a temple of towers, close courtyards and narrow corridors. Many of the corridors impassable, clogged with jumbled piles of delicately carved stone blocks dislodged by the roots of long-decayed trees.
Old Man of Lonely Planet
This old man was made famous by Lonely Planet, being featured on the cover of the 4th edition of their guidebook on Cambodia. Walking with a bent back, he sells souvenirs to tourists.
Growth & Decay
The temple is held in a stranglehold of trees. Stone and wood clasp each other in grim hostility; yet all is silent and still, without any visible movement to indicate their struggle, as if they were wrestlers suddenly petrified and struck motionless in the middle of a fight. The rounds in this battle are not measured by minutes, but by centuries.
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