Tour Day #1 Ends – Ta Prohm Temple

After a lunch break, at a local typical Khmer road side restaurant, where we all enjoyed local Khmer cuisine of Pork Fried Rice, Beef Loc Lac and Tom Yum, while our guide Theoun (Chan) kept us enthralled with stories of the war, the Khmer Rouge and life in Cambodia, we decided to end Day #1 of our tour at the world famous, Ta Prohm Temple.

Every tour guide will tell you that Ta Prohm is known as the “Tomb Raider” Temple, as scenes from the 2001 Hollywood movie starring Angela Jolie, were filmed in this ancient temple city, engulfed by the jungle.

Soon after “Tomb Raider” hit international screens, Ta Prohm, became a popular tourist attraction and the most photographed temple in the park.  There was an iconic scene in the movie, where Angela Jolie picked a flower from this tree, resulting in millions of tourists streaming to Ta Prohm, wanting a snapshot beneath “the tree”, with its roots snaking between the crumbling walls of this ancient temple.

So, when restoration of the temples started in the early 21st century, it was decided to leave the enchanting, root-entangled temple as it was.

We were very fortunate to have Theoun (Chang) with us to take some magnificent photographs of us beneath “the tree”. This tree had to force its way through stone and now stands proud, having pushed its way through the walls of this once grand temple, reminding us of the force of nature if left untouched.

Even though Angkor Wat will probably always remain the main attraction to the Angkor Archaeological Park, Ta Prohm deservedly sits in the top three temples to visit, alongside the Angkor Wat Temple and the Bayon Temple.  When visiting the Ta Prohm temple, it is clear to see how the jungles of Cambodia grew back, almost destroying and covering up this ancient city and an ancient civilization, that could have been hidden away forever.

Ta Prohm was built by Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his mother. There are apparently many carvings that resemble the mother of the King. The temple was originally named Rajavihara, which means “the monastery of the king”, and a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.

When we first arrived in Cambodia and visited the Ta Prohm temple, it was almost impossible to navigate our way through these crumbling ruins, among huge piles of rock and ageing stones but with the extensive restoration that has taken place over recent years, there are now wooden walkways and hand rails making it much easier to walk around this site. 

There are also certain areas that are supported by scaffolding and are roped off in order to protect these ancient temples from further damage from tourists but probably also to protect tourists from collapsing walls and buildings which have been severely damaged by invasive trees and their gigantic roots. 

The Ta Prohm temple site is made up of a series of one-storey buildings, many of which are still off limits due to their ill state of repair. 

The Tomb Raider tree, can be found in the central sanctuary. This is where Jolie’s Lara Croft picked a jasmine flower in the iconic scene from the movie.  Normally there would be queues of tourists, waiting in line to take a photograph under this famous tree but of course due to COVID and lack of tourists, we almost had the entire temple complex to ourselves.

Besides the enormous tree roots snaking its way through the walls of the temple, the ancient trees overhead, the long dark hallways and corridors and the open courtyards surrounded by the encroaching jungle, make this temple complex almost a mystical place to explore.  You feel like you are in a different world and have just uncovered a secretive place cloaked in mystery.

For example, the mysterious stone carving of what appears to be a stegosaurus. This carving has apparently triggered a flurry of debate.  Why would the artisans of this ancient time be carving out dinosaurs in the walls of this temple in the 12th century?  How did they even know that dinosaurs ever existed?

Deep in the heart of Ta Prohm is a small but tall room with an opening in the roof.  This chamber is apparently still used for its original purpose, as a meditative echo chamber.

In order to achieve an echo sound, you need to stand with your back against the wall and then strike your chest with your fist.  This action is greeted by a deep and resonant echo sound “OOOM”. 

Maybe this echo chamber was a form of communicating with the Gods, hence the opening in the ceiling, to convey their medications and prayers upward to the heavens. 

It was an amazing experience, as we beat our chests we could feel the vibration against the walls but it also felt as if we were in a sauna.  Notice how Richards hair is plastered to his head!

Below is a short video of us inside the chamber, standing against the wall, hitting our fists on our chests and if you listen carefully (using headphones), you will hear the resonating “Ooom” sound echoing upwards towards the opening in the roof of this echo meditation chamber.

This temple complex is usually swarmed by tourists, so we were very happy to share this experience with only a few meandering tourists and and a small camera crew also taking advantage of the lack of tourists, to film a wedding photographic shoot. 

It as a spectacular sight to see the contrast between this beautiful youthful bride (in a modern western style white wedding dress) against a backdrop of these ancient weathered buildings.

It gave one an even greater perspective of the lives of this ancient civilization compared to the modern lifestyle that we are accustomed to.

This brings us to the end of Tour Day #1.

We hope you will join us on Tour Day #2 when we visit a few more interesting temples in this ancient city of Angkor. We look forward to sharing more experiences with you.

Please leave comments and share your thoughts with us on this magnificent temple site of Ta Prohm shrouded in mystery.