Stone ruin surrounded by trees
Cambodia,  Ruins,  Squares,  Travel galleries

Gallery: Ta Prohm, Angkor’s Royal Monastery

October 7, 2021 / 29 Comments

In a clearing in the jungles of Angkor the Buddhist king King Jayavarman VII built a monastery, Rajavihara, meaning ‘Royal Monastery’. We know it today as Ta Prohm.

The monastery was built between 1113 and 1150. In it lived more than 12,500 people, including 18 high priests and 615 dancers. In 3,000 surrounding villages lived a further 80,000 people providing services and supplies to the monastery. The temple was wealthy, amassing riches such as gold, pearls and silks.

We know all this because of a stele found at the site, dated 1186 and written in ancient Sanskrit. It also tells us something of life in the Khmer empire at that time. There were 102 hospitals spread over the empire; and 121 rest houses along major routes from Angkor to places as far away as Phimai in Thailand or Champa in present day Vietnam.

Ta Prohm is sometimes known as the Tomb Raider temple because some of the scenes were filmed there. It is famous (and popular) because unlike some of the other temples at Angkor the surrounding vegetation has been allowed to ‘take over’ the structures, with trees growing out of the very stones in places.

Stone ruin surrounded by trees
Stone ruin surrounded by trees

Approaching Ta Prohm

This was a deliberate decision by the French body that oversaw the huge task of conserving and restoring the monuments of Angkor in the early twentieth century, the École Française d’Extrême-Orient. They chose Ta Prohm as the temple to be left in its natural state; their aim was to provide an example of how most of Angkor looked when first ‘discovered’ by Europeans in the 19th century. Of course this didn’t mean totally neglecting the structure; but rather carefully conserving it so that the trees remained but weren’t allowed to further destroy it – an ongoing task.

Visiting Ta Prohm

It is probably best to visit Ta Prohm early in the morning, when the light is at its best and tourists fewer. We didn’t do that. When we arrived, after watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat, spending some hours there and similarly exploring Angkor Thom, the sun was climbing higher. The light was a bit flat and harsh for photos; added to which there was quite a crowd of people queuing to take a photo of one of the most iconic ‘tree root and temple’ images. And this despite the fact that visitor numbers were down on the norm for that time of year by around 30%, due to the impending Covid pandemic; already no one from China was allowed to travel abroad, and this is a favourite sight for them.

Looking up at tall tree growing out of a ruin
Carved stone ruined window with tree roots

The ‘Tomb Raider tree’

We didn’t join the queue, as taking selfies in front of the sights doesn’t interest either of us. But I did attempt, and sort-of succeed, to get some photos of the tree itself; grabbing them as one tourist left their stance in front of it and before another arrived to pose! This is, I am told, the tree where Angelina Jolie / Lara Croft picked a jasmine flower before falling through the earth. That explains its popularity with the selfie and Instagram crowd. But as I’ve never seen the film and have no interest in it, this tree meant no more to me than the many others here.

Escaping the crowds

Our guide Sam then led us a few metres further and around a corner. Suddenly there was only a handful of tourists and an unobstructed view of the same tree from the far side. There we could get our photos!

There are two types of tree at Ta Prohm. The tall ones with large roots are silk-cotton trees or Ceiba pentandra, while the smaller ones with thinner cascading roots are strangler figs, Ficus gibbosa.

For the rest of our time in Ta Prohm we had many areas almost to ourselves, with only a sprinkling of other visitors. It seems most people come to get that shot and move on. But there is a labyrinth of chambers and passages to explore, which we wandered through with Sam; such a shame that most people miss it. Or maybe not, as we enjoyed the peace and quiet here once we’d left the crowd behind.

And as we were to see there is much more to Ta Prohm than one tree, with some beautiful carvings of dancing girls and ornate doorways; and several more such trees!

I took loads of photos, many of which lend themselves to squaring for Becky’s current challenge of Past Squares.

I visited Ta Prohm in early 2020

29 Comments

  • Oh, the Places We See

    November 3, 2021 at 19:54 Reply

    I love all of your photos. They bring back memories of our visit to this area. And we loved having our picture made in front of the tree roots — we’re just silly like that. But it was fun nonetheless.

  • leightontravels

    October 8, 2021 at 15:06 Reply

    Thanks for this visit down memory Lane. The Angkor temples are every bit as amazing as we are led to believe, aren’t they? Your photos of those twisting trees are excellent, as usual. We spent around six months in Cambodia at the beginning of the pandemic and were lucky enough to see a number of these temples in relative peace. But our absolute temples highlight was the complex of Koh Ker, located to the north of Siem Reap. PS: I once saw ‘Tomb Raider’ and it’s crap.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      October 8, 2021 at 17:05 Reply

      Thanks Leighton – yes, truly amazing! We didn’t get to Koh Ker or any of the more remote temples, unfortunately. Unlike you we had only a few days in Cambodia, but I’d love to go back one day! My own favourite of those we did see was Banteay Kdei – I assume you went there? And thanks for confirming my suspicions about Tomb Raider – glad I’ve never bothered!!

  • Teresa

    October 7, 2021 at 22:23 Reply

    My daughter has been to Cambodia twice and I can understand why! Your photos really suns up its beauty.Lucky you were able to go just before Covid.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      October 8, 2021 at 08:41 Reply

      Yes, we were really fortunate to be able to fit our trip in just before things locked down – a couple of weeks later and our trip would have been cut short, I am sure. I would love to visit Cambodia again, there’s so much we weren’t able to fit into our itinerary. But I suspect we won’t go back, there are just too many other places we want to go, once we can!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      October 7, 2021 at 16:08 Reply

      Thanks Margaret 🙂 I was a bit concerned when I saw the group of people all queuing to get their selfies, but as soon as we went just few steps further into the temple we had it almost to ourselves!

      • margaret21

        October 7, 2021 at 16:32 Reply

        There are no words. I remember taking my grandson to an exhibition at the Natural History Museum. It was hard for him to see for the throng of people with their BACKS to the dinosaur so they could have their face immediately in front of it. What?

  • maristravels

    October 7, 2021 at 12:55 Reply

    Great images, Sarah. Your post reminds me of a happy time there with my husband and our lovely guide, also called Sam (I wonder if we hired the same one?) We were there in 2004 when there may have been fewer tourists, at least we didn’t have any selfie takers, but we did have quite a lot of Japanese camera wielders who would push in front. In our polite British way we didn’t object for some time until my husband decided to assert himself which led to much bowing and apologizing on the Japanese side!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      October 7, 2021 at 13:40 Reply

      Thank you 🙂 I wonder if it was the same guide? He would have been quite young in 2004 I think! I can just see that scene you describe, with the Japanese tourists so apologetic 😀

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