Ta Prohm is the current name for the temple at Angkor in Cambodia’s Siem Reap Province. It was originally known as Rajavihara and was erected in the Bayon style in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.
The temple, which stands about one kilometer east of Angkor Thom and on the southern border of East Baray, was established as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university by Khmer King Jayavarman VII.
Unlike most Angkorian temples, this one has been left in largely untouched condition: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings has made it one of Angkor’s most popular temples with visitors.
Jayavarman VII began a huge building and public works initiative in 1186 A.D. Rajavihara (“king’s monastery”), now known as Ta Prohm (“ancestor Brahma”), was one of the earliest temples built under that initiative.
The date on the stele marking the establishment is 1186 A.D.
Rajavihara was built in honor of Jayavarman VII’s family. The primary figure of the temple, which represents Prajnaparamita, the embodiment of knowledge, was patterned after the king’s mother.
The third enclosure’s northern and southern satellite temples were dedicated to the king’s guru, Jayamangalartha, and his elder brother, respectively.
As such, Ta Prohm complemented the temple monastery of Preah Khan, which was erected in 1191 A.D., and whose primary figure depicted the Bodhisattva of compassion Lokesvara and was patterned after the king’s father.
According to the temple’s stele, the site housed more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers), with an additional 800,000 laboring in the neighboring towns to provide services and supplies.
The stele also mentions the temple’s wealth, which included gold, pearls, and silks. Ta Prohm was expanded and added to the reign of Srindravarman towards the end of the 15th century.
The temple of Ta Prohm was abandoned and neglected for centuries after the Khmer Empire fell in the 17th century. As of 2013, the Archaeological Survey of India has repaired much of the temple complex, some of which had been built from the ground up.
To preserve the monument from further damage caused by the massive visitor influx, wooden walkways, platforms, and roped fences have been installed around the site.
Ta Prohm is designed in the style of a classic “flat” Khmer temple (as opposed to a temple pyramid or temple-mountain, the inner levels of which are higher than the outer).
A center sanctuary is surrounded by five rectangular surrounding walls. Ta Prohm, like other Khmer temples, faces east, hence the temple itself is situated back to the west along an extended east-west axis.
metersThe outer wall of 1000 by 650 meters encloses an area of 650,000 square metres that was formerly the location of a significant town but is now entirely wooded.
The temple’s three inner enclosures are galleried, and the corner towers of the first enclosure create a quincunx with the tower of the central sanctuary. The tortuous entrance necessary by the temple’s partially collapsed state, as well as the enormous number of other buildings dotting the site, some of which are later additions, complicate this fundamental layout for the visitor.
The libraries in the southeast corners of the first and third enclosures, the satellite temples on the north and south sides of the third enclosure, the Hall of Dancers between the third and fourth eastern gopuras, and a House of Fire east of the fourth eastern gopura are the most significant of these other buildings.
There aren’t many narrative bas-reliefs at Ta Prohm (as compared to Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom). One possible reason for this scarcity is that most of the temple’s original Buddhist narrative artwork was destroyed by Hindu iconoclasts after Jayavarman VII’s death.
In any case, there are certain images of incidents from Buddhist mythology that have survived. One poorly deteriorated bas-relief depicts Siddhartha, the future Buddha, leaving his father’s palace in the “Great Departure.” There are additional stone reliefs of devatas (minor feminine goddesses), meditating monks or ascetics, and dvarapalas (temple guardians) in the temple.
The trees sprouting out of the ruins are possibly Ta Prohm’s most distinguishing feature, prompting “more authors to descriptive excess than any other element of Angkor.”
The silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) or believe Tetrameles nudiflora predominates, however sources dispute on their identification: the bigger is either the strangler fig (Ficus gibbosa) or Gold Apple (Diospyros decandra).
Angkor expert Maurice Glaize remarked, “On every side, in incredible over-scale, the trunks of the silk-cotton trees tower skywards beneath a shady green canopy, their long spreading skirts trailing the ground and their infinite roots coiling more like snakes than plants.”
Ta Prohm was placed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1992. It is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cambodia’s Angkor area.
Ta Prohm conservation and restoration is a joint effort of the Archaeological Survey of India and the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap).
The Ta Prohm temple was featured in the film Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie. Although the film took artistic license with other Angkorian structures, the shots of Ta Prohm remained accurate to the temple’s genuine look and made use of its uncanny features.