Ta Prohm : Mysterious Beauty

Ta Prohm : Mysterious Beauty

Ta Prohm is best described as a mysterious jungle temple. It is located approximately one kilometer east of Angkor Thom and it was established by the Khmer king Jayavarman VII.

Entrance to Ta Prohm

The parking area was again full of Tuk-Tuks eager to ferry us to the main temple. As we talked loudly among ourselves, haggling with the Tuk-Tuk drivers, calling out our partner’s names, two policemen suddenly materialized from their small outpost at one corner of the gate and forbade Tuk-Tuks from entering the campus because it was illegal. To all our entreaties they said a smiling, but firm, “NO.” So we started walking, cursing ourselves for our talkativeness and envying the silent foreigners who had whizzed past us quietly in Tuk-Tuks. The monument was about 700 meters away from the gate. The wide road was again cut through dense jungles on either side. 

Road Leading to the Temple

At the entrance there was a signboard showcasing Archaeological Survey of India cooperating with the Cambodian government for maintaining the structures. 

Signboard

History

After walking and walking, we came to a high platform and from then onwards, the temple premises started. The temple complex is 1 km long and 350 meters wide. It was built to honor the royalty and it used to be a monastery and a university of Mahayana Buddhism. According to the commemorating Stele (stone slab), the foundation date is 1186 A.D. It was originally called Rajavihara (royal temple/monastery of the king). Jayavarman VII constructed Rajavihara in honor of his family. The temple’s main image representing Prajnaparamita (personification of wisdom) was modeled on the king’s mother. Satellite temples were dedicated to the king’s guru and elder brother. Temple’s Stele records state that it was occupied by 12,500 people which included 18 monks,2,740 priests,2,232 maids and 615 dancers in its heyday.3,140 villages and 79,365 people served the temple and also provided supplies .The temple had amassed considerable riches like  gold, pearls and silks. It was also called ‘Queen’s Tomb’, because it was built by Jayavarman VII to worship his mother Jayarajachudanami. Today it is only known as Ta Prohm, meaning ancestor Brahma.

Architecture

Ta Prohm is a flat, Khmer temple—not temple pyramid or temple mountain. It is oriented to the east. There is a central sanctuary surrounded by rectangular walls. The outer wall encloses an area of 650,000 square meters which is the size of a substantial town. But now it is largely forested.

Map of Ta Prohm 

The inner enclosures are galleried. Basic plan is complicated. We were entering dark corridors, and coming out into open courtyards quite a few times. 

Entering a Dark Corridor Through a Courtyard

The courtyards are not vast. They are surrounded by other buildings such as libraries, satellite temples, and hall of dancers and house of fire. The house of fire means rest houses / dharamshalas providing fire to the tired travelers. This fire can also mean the sacred fire used during religious ceremonies. Most of the structures are in rack and ruin. There are not many bas-reliefs like Angkor Wat except for some depictions from Buddhist mythology.

Roots, Woodland and Architectural Style

 The courtyards are photogenic because of the crumbling architecture, with huge blocks of antique stone strewn or gathered in a heap; but mostly because of the trees growing out of the ruins and clasping the structures into a tight embrace with their ancient roots. The ambience is mysterious, awe inspiring and gorgeous. While the trunks of silk cotton trees and strangler fig trees compete with other to reach the sky, their anaconda-like roots coil around the buildings as if holding the bricks and stones from collapsing any further. 

Roots of Ancient Trees

Gigantesque Trees with Aerial Prop Roots

One courtyard was particularly crowded because it was the location for the Hollywood movie, ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’. People furiously clicked photographs and selfies there. The foreigners too went ‘click click’ perhaps because,“Angelina Jolie had shot her scenes here,” as our guide excitedly informed us, 

When the capital of the Khmer empire was destroyed by Siam (Thailand), and the Khmer kings left to Phnom Pehn in the 15^th century, the temple was forgotten and smothered by the jungle until it was discovered in 1860 by Henri Mouhot. The Siamese (Thais) were traditional enemies of Khmer. According to oral tradition, king Ang of Khmer (1516-1566) had named the place Siem Reap after he repulsed an army sent to invade Cambodia by the Thai king. Siem Reap means defeat of Siam (Thailand) in Khmer language.

UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the world heritage list in 1992.The conservation and restoration of Ta Prohm is a partnership project of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and Apsara (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor Wat and the region of Siem Reap.)

Restoration was done without spoiling the character and atmosphere of the place and by leaving untouched the areas merging with the jungle .ASI controlled the ruins, built wooden walkways, platforms, roped railings, to protect the monument from further damage due to the large tourist inflow. It’s a tough job for the conservators to keep the structures safe from the tentacles of the giant trees. We saw a Hydra crane near one of the structures, doing its work of conservation in the midst of the huge tourist footfall.

We were filled with awe as we walked back to the gate, through the road canopied by dense foliage and hearing the chattering of monkeys and trills of parrots. The Khmer kings, who controlled most of South-East Asia till the 15^th century and the builders of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm were indeed superlative. Henri Mouhot, who discovered these structures had wondered “….what had become of this powerful race, so civilized, so enlightened the authors of these gigantic works?”

All are matchless, evoking different feelings. While Ta Prohm has a romantic, thrilling image of a battle between nature and architecture, of tree roots penetrating into ancient, religious ruins, Angkor Thom is to find order in the disordered jungle of structures. While the former is a celebration of Jayavarman VII’s family, the latter is his personal celebration by modeling the Face Towers on himself. But Angkor Wat stands tall with its divinity, because it is the embodiment of a king’s true devotion and selfless offering of all his resources to his God, his protector and his very essence, Lord Vishnu. 

Photographs: Bulbul Sur

Tags:  Henri Mouhot, Ta Prohm, ASI, Siem Reap