Ta Prohm

The building complex is placed Ta Prohm temple complex in Cambodia made up) from the temple, monastery, other smaller buildings and the surrounding wall with corner towers and Gopuram (entrance pavilions. It is located about two kilometers northeast of Angkor Wat, the most famous and largest temple in the area of Angkor.

History and religious significance
Ta Prohm was built by the late 12th right up to the 13th Century under the reign of King Jayavarman VII. Later extensions were made under King Indravarman II. The original name was "Rajavihara" (Sanskrit), which also described the use of: the royal monastery. Although Jayavarman VII and his mother, to whom he dedicated the facility, were Buddhists, Ta Prohm is found in a variety of reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu mythology (Krishna, Vishnu, from the Ramayana, etc.). Upon completion, were worshiped in the shrines 260 gods and goddesses. The dedication of the temple took place in 1186 in honor of Prajnaparamita, the Buddhist concept of "perfection of wisdom." Like many of the temples at Angkor, Ta Prohm is thus an example of the syncretism of the former Khmer population.
A remarkable illustration shows the awakening of Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, from the house of his parents and his hometown. He rides on a horse to wear while many gods whose legs to muffle the noise of hooves, so that Gautama unnoticed in his search can begin.

Architecture
The inner area of the plant
The outer boundary wall of the plant encompasses an area of approximately 60 hectares, of which occupy the temple and its surrounding buildings, only one hectare. Beyond the outer walls were about 3140 villages with a total of 80,000 residents. On the site it was mainly monks. A temple inscription indicates the number of 12,640.
Like everywhere else at Angkor, built of stone buildings were reserved for religious purposes. The people, the king who lived in houses made of wood. This is also the reason why only the temples survived the centuries, while all the secular buildings of the tropical humid climate were victims.
Ta Prohm was built early in the Bayon style, whose most striking feature is often several meters high towers with faces of the Bodhisattva Lokeshvara are.

Ruins and strangler fig
A special position among the temples of Angkor, and in the plans of visitors Ta Prohm one takes account of the dilapidated condition. The restorers and architects of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), which first began in modern times to restore the temple, decided to leave the temple in the state in which they found most. The choice fell on Ta Prohm. The vegetation and the fallen bricks were removed and secured only to the extent that it is possible to visitors to celebrate the plant. Particularly impressive are the strangler fig (Ficus virens) and the even greater tetramelic nudiflora whose roots whole building overgrown.