Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ta Prohm is a temple of towers, closed courtyards and narrow corridors. Many of the
corridors are impassable, clogged with jumbled piles of delicately carved stone blocks dis-
lodged by the roots of long-decayed trees. Bas-reliefs on bulging walls are carpeted with
lichen, moss and creeping plants, and shrubs sprout from the roofs of monumental
porches. Trees, hundreds of years old, tower overhead, their leaves filtering the sunlight
and casting a greenish pall over the whole scene.
The most popular of the many strangulating root formations is that on the inside of the
easternmost
gopura
(entrance pavilion) of the central enclosure, nicknamed the Crocodile
Tree. One of the most famous spots in Ta Prohm is the so-called '
Tomb Raider
tree',
where Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft picked a jasmine flower before falling through the earth
into…Pinewood Studios.
It used to be possible to climb onto the damaged galleries, but this is now prohibited, to
protect both temple and visitor. Many of these precariously balanced stones weigh a tonne
or more and would do some serious damage if they came down.
Ta Prohm is at its most impressive at dawn before the crowds arrive. Allow as much as
two hours to visit, especially if you want to explore the maze-like corridors and iconic tree
roots.
