King: Jayavarman VII
Date: 12th-13th century
Religion: Buddhist
Access: Enter from the west side.
Ta Prom is definitively what you are looking for if you are into discovering old ruins in the jungle. When the French started clearing away the vegetation on the Angkor ruins some romantics protested that the archeologist were destroying what they called "the natural state" of the temples. The Conservation Society decided that Ta Prohm would remain in its overgrown state. Some work was carried out to prevent further collapses and to make the site safe for visitors. Some parts have signs that forbid entry which doesn't seem to hinder the majoity of the tourists. As Ta Prom is visited by most Angkor tourist more and more vegetation disappears every year. Thus the causeways and stone floors get bare which dries out the giant fig trees. Nevertheless, Ta Prom is a sight not to be missed.
The temple is one of the largest, with an outer wall measuring 600 by 1000 metres, largely collapsed. The sanctuary is a square with sides of 120m. Some parts are inaccessible because the roofs caved in. It is a good idea to bring a flashlight if you want to scout the inner hallways. Be careful where you step, especially in the morning when all the stones are wet with the dew. The old man on the picture below seems to live in or near the temple. He spends his day wiping the pathways and showing the tourists particularly fine pieces of sculpture in exchange for a little money.
You can enter the complex from the west. Most of the time some people will be there trying to sell you musical instruments, little buddha statues and the like. Often people are performing local music and little girls will show you their version of apsara dances.Ta Phrom Temple, One of the most romantic temples of Angkor's site, where the nature resumed its rights and disrupted the work of the men. A magic place which was built in 1186, this convent Buddhist was the most gigantic of Angkor's site. The Conservation of Angkor saved the main monuments, but didn't clean' it. All the trees and the roots which had invaded and left the rights for the jungle, such as found him by the first discoverers. Roots look like snakes which disrupt and waste statues and walls, and huge trees beat the heads of stuppas. A forest which doesn't want to let escape his gods and which destroys them or protects them.... A place loaded with emotion and poetry for the meditation. A magic temple in the sunset.
12000 persons lived in the surrounding wall of the " Convent of King " 8 centuries previously, and his construction was ended at the beginning of the XIIIth century.