Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm is the modern name for the temple at Angkor.  Located in Cambodia in the Siem Reap province, the temple was built in the late 12^th and early 13^th centuries.  The temple became a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university, which was founded by the Khmer King, Jayavarman VII, who dedicated Ta Prohm to his mother.  Ta Prohm is a traditional Khmer structure, consisting of a series of gradually smaller enclosures, with the center tower connecting the smaller towers through passageways.  The site was home to more than 12, 500 people in the late 12^th century, with a population of 800,000 in the surrounding villages.  The temple was modified after King Jayavarman VII’s death, and modified later by Hindu and Thervada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious beliefs.  After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 17^th century, the temple was abandoned. Restoration to conserve the temples of Angkor began in the early 21^st century, but it was decided that Ta Prohm would be left in its ruined state.  The jungle surrounding the temple merged with the ruins, giving it a new overall appeal to the tourists who frequent the temple.  Although the ruins are bound by massive roots from the fig, silk-cotton, and kapok trees, the area was stabilized to make the temple accessible to tourists, which was necessary since Ta Prohm is Angkor’s most visited temple.  Ta Prohm was inscribed by UNESCO and placed on the World Heritage list in 1992.   The temple includes 260 statues of gods, 39 towers with pinnacles and 566 different residences.  Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed there.

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