Ta Phrom, Angkor Wat

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Made even more famous by Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider and overrun by silk-cotton trees and strangler vines, Ta Phrom is about as atmospheric as Angkor gets, thanks to a decision to leave it in its original state by the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient. Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found and makes for a magical photogenic and atmospheric combination with trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings.

Built by Jayavarman VII for his mother, and consecrated in 1186, Ta Phrom (meaning "ancestor Brahma" and originally known as Rajavihara "royal temple") was the centrepiece of a city of more than 10,000 people and was also an active Buddhist monastery. It is oriented to the east, so the temple proper is set back to the west along an elongated east-west axis. The outer wall of 1000 by 650 metres encloses an area of 650,000 square metres that at one time would have been the site of a substantial town, but that is now largely forested.

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By far the coolest place in the whole of Angkor, Ta Phrom is a captivating mixture of temple and jungle. With roots, literally, seemingly growing out the temple stone, you start to wonder if you are on some foreign planet. The green moss covering the temple stone adds to the feeling that, somehow, the temple is alive. It is such a visual marvel, it begs the question of whether or not to restore it like other temples have been. Certainly, I am a proponent of making sure the continually growing roots do not collapse the structure, but removing the jungle, so rooted (sorry) in the lore and stunning visual product would be a travesty.

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Ta Prohm is yet another temple left to the jungle's devastating work. However, it's the most famous and most interesting. Giant trees grow everywhere in and on the temple remains. Even the outer walls are fully overgrown at some places. Ta Prohm is famous, so be prepared for hundreds of tourists strolling around the site. Fortunately, 99% of them will not leave the main axis - so it's a good idea to start by walking around not through the temple. You will have Ta Prohm almost for yourself and can walk back through the masses with a smile on your face. In the last years, these masses have brought problems to Ta Prohm: Many of the walls are about to collapse and stones that bore fine carvings earlier now show only the slightest traces of these. Thus, a lot of construction work is going on in Ta Prohm. The authorities seem to have noticed that leaving a temple to the jungle is a good idea, but only if it is still presentable to the tourists. This also means that several sideways are off limits to tourists. Respect this, as it is really not worth being buried under a pile of massive stones just for "one more photo from over there"!

One more thing for the film freaks on VT: Scenes of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" were filmed here. Great scenery for a movie like that!

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Ta Prohm temple (fomerly known as Rajavihara), built in the late 12th century to the early 13 th century, can be considered as one of the highlights of everyone's itinerary visiting the Angkor made famous by Angelina Jolie's movie, The Tomb Raider which was shot in 2 locations as I recall. One is here another is at the moat in front of Angkor Wat. The picture shown is arguably the most photographed tree in the world!

The most impressive point about this temple is that it is as if the trees are consuming the temple day by day. Yes, I mean trees all across and over the temple. Very fasinating and definately heavily bombarded with tourist but surely a must visit temple in the Angkor.

Ta Prohm was built in the late 12th century by Jayavarman VII as a shrine to his mother and is another must for anyone coming to Siem Reap. As a monastery there were nearly three thousand priests here including eighteen high priests. Ta Prohm is unforgettable due to the massive trees that were left here intentionally by the archeologists working on the site. While clearing back the forest it was decided to leave them in place to serve as a reminder of how the original discovers found it and other temples. Many of the trees have grown around and through the remains, and soar high above the temple. This temple, along with those of the Bayon and Angkor Thom form the core of any visit to Siem Reap.

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aka Tomb Raider Temple. Eversince Tomb Raider was filmed here, it made this temple so famous. So famous that i have to visit it twice!...heee...well actually the first day when i visited the place it was crowded and it rained so it's kinda difficult to take nice shots with so many people in your way + the occasional rain poured on us so i have to leave the place feeling a lil disappointed =(

But nevertheless, hehehe....we returned the next day right after the sunrise and blimey!....we had hthe place to ourselves with another 2 couples so it was just 6 of us having our own private tour around. My suggestion is you may want to plan ur itinerary against the usual one and avoid the crowds.

We have to pass by Bayon on the way to Ta Prohm and it was pretty deserted as the crowds would have all head to Angkor Thom first.

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Many of us are familiar with this temple, thanks to Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. Ta Prohm which is also called "Jungle Temple" is located inside a jungle with huge trees surrounding and entering the temple. It is a good way to prove "Nothing can stop the nature to prevail" as the roots of these giant trees destroy the walls of the temples in time. Me and my wife felt very happy to see this temple before it totally disappears. You can see reinforcements on some parts of the temple to resist the big push from the trees, but this just gives the temple some more time to survive and the end is inevitable. This temple is one of the must-visit places in the whole world before the nature totally destroys it. Don't delay your visit, otherwise ...

Ta Phrom is always a part of the temple tour. Tourists oftentimes go straight to the main body of the temple but I suggest that you go a little off the path because there are interesting bits of fallen architecture that will give you the shivers.