Discover Ta Prohm Temple

A Magical Experience

Built late in the 12th Century as a Buddhist monastery and university, which may explain the peacefulness that comes while walking through the temple. Abandoned in the 15th Century, the temple ruins are interwoven with the jungle creating a magical experience. Ta Prohm is one of the few sites that has been left as it was found in the early 1900s.

Step back in time & feel the wonder.

We arrived just as the site was opening for the day, and miracously had it all to ourselves, at least for a short time. The sun was still rising and cast an eerie, shimmery light through the trees and cast a green tint across everything, making it feel like you were in a dream.

Discover Wandering-angkor Wat-ta prohm sign

Rajavihara “Monastery of the king,” was part of the King’s public works projects and built to honor his family. Records indicate the complex was home to over 12000 people and over 80K people in villages surrounding the area supporting the complex.

The combination of the early hour, the lack of other visitors and the lush overgrowth made us feel like we had stumbled upon an unknown ruin. It was magic, light filtering through the trees, hiding and highlighting at the same time. The trees stretch into the sky making you feel very small.

Unesco World Heritage Site

Added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, the site’s conservation and restoration are a partnership between APSARA and the Archaeological Survey of India. Most of the work consists of shoring up the remaining walls and temples, maintaining the balance of the jungle and temple. One of the most visited places in Cambodia, it gives you the feeling of an early 19th Century explorer discovering the monastery for the first time.

Trees in Ta Prohm temple

Left alone for centuries, the jungle slowly grew into the temple, creating magic and wonder. Like stepping back in time, the jungle intertwines with the structures, merging the two into one new temple.

“On every side, in fantastic over-scale, the trunks of the silk-cotton trees soar skywards under a shadowy green canopy, their long spreading skirts trailing the ground and their endless roots coiling more like reptiles than plants.”
Maurice Glaize, Explorer & Scholar

Ta Prohm Temple, tree overgrowning a doorway

Ta Prohm Temple Symbols & Offerings

We found this temple offering within the site maintained by a female monk. She offered us blessings while tying a string around our wrists. These blessings are common within all the temples and we suggest receiving as many as you can. Although we did not understand the words, we could feel the peace and tranquility as she spoke.

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