Ta Prum Temple complex of Cambodia

Ta Prum Temple complex of Cambodia
It is difficult to convey the impression from visiting such a magnificent place, as Cambodian Ta Prum (or Ta Prohm). The Temple complex is in fact, is an open-air museum, and World Heritage Site. However, after the fall of the Khmer empire in the 15th century, the temple of Ta Prum became abandoned and forgotten for centuries. Unfortunately, greedy trees-Strangler Figs damaged the large part of the complex. But trees growing on the stones from the ruins, make the temples of Angkor one of the most photogenic and most popular of all temples. Meanwhile, there is a program to preserve and restore the temples of Angkor, which now gives the impression of the Lost World. Nevertheless, the work was done to allow access for maintenance of its ruins.

Some facts:

Ta Prohm was a Buddhist monastery and was enormously wealthy in its time, with vast stores of jewels and gold.

At present, the temple is undergoing restoration, large trees, which destroy the walls and ceilings are removed, the main entrance is restored.

After filming the movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” Cambodians have renamed Ta Prohm in honor of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie.

In those days in the temple there were about 12,600 people, the church was subordinated to 3140 villages with a population of 79,365 people and 102 hospitals, even by today’s standards it is quite a rather big number.

Here is the gallery of my images from the last trip to the temple. Indeed the place is a paradise for photographers. Beautiful figures and ornaments carved or painted on the walls tell about the ancient life of people living in this mysterious place.

Ta Prum Temple complex of Cambodia