TA PROHM : 'the sprawl of the banyan'

Published: 11-Feb-12

By: by Moeun Nhean

PHNOM PENH (Cambodia Herald) - Ta Prohm is a theatrical backdrop of gnarled banyan tree roots spilling down doorways and sneaking slowly around corners.

Tuon Savoeung is a guide there-the narrator in the play. He says most tourists who visit this temple consider it their favorite. During their time wandering the Angkor Wat complex, they return again and again to clamber over the huge root systems and follow the smell of incense into secret saffron-colored courtyards.

“Visitors see the banyan which moves like a snake over walls of Ta Prohm temple. No one misses the opportunity to take photographs of these trees which grow almost as if they wanted to smother the walls of the temple,” says Tuon.

He says another great feature of Ta Prohm temple is the hundreds of birds which gather on the tops of the big trees and sing day and night making the temple less peaceful than the others. “Tourists stand still, looking upward here and there. They are scouring the jungle canopy for birds, enchanted by their songs.”

Mrs. Chonlada Kuenwan is a Thai tourist. She says she can't believe her eyes. “The trees have besieged the temple.” Kuenwan says she had only ever seen photographs of Ta Prohm. “The reality is quite astonishing. I never thought the trees could be as big like these. Ta Prohm temple is just marvelous and it really has stood the test of time.” She agreed with the guide's snake description of the crawling tree roots.

Lai Chian Sing has watched countless television programs about the marvels of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm temples at home in Malaysia. He has scoured the internet for images and descriptions of the temples and the beautiful photographs lured him to Cambodia.

“But I think those television programs and photographs and lengthy descriptions did not do these temples justice. Now that I am here I have no words to describe the true qualities and gloriousness of these temples,” Chian Sing says. He says he is quite puzzled as to how the temple stones could be stacked together without cement. “And the carvings and bas-reliefs here are just amazing.”
“With only trees for company I could do nothing but stand gaping. I am so pleased to have finally set foot on this ancient wonder of the world. I am simply overwhelmed by the sheer size of all of the temples.”

Former cultural expert and director at the Patrimony Department of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts Oung Vorn is concerned about the damage the trees-banyan, fig and spoung (a pine with red wood)-are doing to Ta Prohm.

“Of course they really do add to the temple's exquisite beauty but we worry about the roots gradually moving underneath the temple, or the trees dying. Ta Prohm could well collapse,” says Vorn.
He says Ta Prohm temple was built by Jayavarman VII between 1181 and 1220 AD.

“Ta Prohm was the soul of the Angkor capital during his reign.” Jayavarman VII dedicated the temple to his mother (in her image) and to Buddha,” says Oung Vorn. “Ta Prohm has Sanskrit inscriptions, like stone documents really, which clearly describe the temple and its inhabitants. According to the inscriptions it took 79,365 people to maintain the temple. However, these numbers were probably doctored by the king.”

There is also an inventory of property belonging to the temple. “Dishes made of 500kg of gold, 35 diamonds, 4,540 rubies and 40,620 other precious stones, 876 large curtains imported from China, 512 silk bed covers and 523 parasols.”

“Besides these valuables, the inscriptions note official tax levies collected from various agricultural products and also describe foreign diplomatic relationships,” Oung says.

The guide Tuon Savoeung says Ta Prohm is wonderful. “I never tire of the trees and I think this is some of the rarest scenery in the world.”

Step over the sprawling banyan, bend your head beneath the arches and slip behind the curtain into the cool darkness of Ta Prohm. •