Prasat Ta Phrom
Shrouded in jungle, Ta Prohm temple is ethereal in aspect and conjures up a romantic aura. Trunks of trees twist amongst stone pillars. Fig, Bayan and kapok trees spread their gigantic roots over, under and in between the stone, robbing walls and terraces apart, as their branches and leaves intertwine to form a roof above the structures.
The Sanskrit inscription on stone tells something about its size and function. Ta Prohm owned 3,140 villages. It took 79,36 people to maintain the temple including 18 high priests, 2,740 officials, 2,202 assistants and 615 dances. Among the property belonging to the temple was set of golden dishes weighing more than 500 kilograms, 35 diamonds, 40,620 pearls, 4,540 precious stones, 876 veils from China, 512 silk beds and 523 parasols.
The monastic complex of Ta Prohm is a series of long, low building standing on one level connected with passages and concentric galleries framing the main sanctuary.
A rectangular, latrite wall, which is 700 by 1,000 meters enclose the entire complex. The east entrance is signaled by a gopura in the outer rampart of the temple. There is a sandstone just north of gopura known as the Hall of Dancers which is distinguished by large, square pillars. The central of sanctuary itself is easy to miss and stand out because of it absence of decoration.
The stone has been hammered, possibly to prepare it for covering stucco and gilding, which has since fallen off. This accounts for the plainness of the walls of this important shrine. Evenly spaced hole on the inner walls of the central sanctuary suggest they were originally covered with metal sheets.
