Ta Prohm (of Lara Croft Fame)

Have returned from temple climbing to hotel to cool off and eat! So I thought that I would start sending these!

Angelinia Jolie's character Lara Croft made Ta Prohm temple famous - and for the life of me I cannot remember the movie's title - it was the first one in the Lara Croft series! Parts of the movie were actually filmed on location here! This is the reason it is hit by almost all tourists - many on short trips here visit only Wat and Ta Prohm. It's small compared to the massiness of Wat - so tends to get really crowded really fast with just a few people present! That's why my driver, guide and I hit it before 6:00AM! There were people there even then - but very few.

Ta Prohm was built in 1186 by a king who dedicated it to his mother. In its prime it was "a holy trunk of great treasures". According to ancient Sanskrit inscriptions on the walls, the temple was filled with tens of thousands of pearls, precious stones and gold dishes weighing more than 500 kilograms! This legend probably was why the movie was based on it.
The temple is a labrinth of dark galleries and pillars with walls decorated with carvings of senuous celestial nymphs with roots crawling across them like an infectuous fungi rash!
The temple is famous for the incredible gigantic tree root systems that not only give the sense that you are in a newly discovered jungle temple but is also responsible for holding the temple together. It is for this reason that the trees are left untouched - the tree (fig and several other types) roots really are the infrastructure holding the buildings together. Because there are so many trees, there is a thick canopy covering the entire temple - being perpetually shaded makes its interior rooms and passages spooky dark. It's an incredibly fascinating and weirdly eery place.
But pictures are worth thousands of words - so enjoy this series of email attachments - the pic titles tell it all.


Gorgeously eerie


Really and literally - the stuff of Lara Croft!


More of the same? No - every inch of the place is totally unique and awsome!


Lighting throughout temple is weird making pics difficult given combination of very bright sunlight and dark shadows. I hope these are clear enough to give you the sense of majesty that I felt.


The natural wonders are as impressive as the man-made ones!


What can I say - everything/sight was just awsome!