Ta Prohm

 Friday, September 30, 2022

The Art of Harmony and Balance 

How is this even possible? Such a huge tree perched on top of an ancient building! It looks like a scene out of a movie set. In fact, it was featured in Laura Croft: The Tomb Raider movie with Angelina Jolie!!!

Every inch a masterpiece! How do they make so many symmetrical, identical dancing figures...so delicate in stone?!?

I loved the long corridors. It resembles the Chola architecture in Tamil Nadu.

I really enjoyed the nooks and corners that we could explore. Felt like I was transported inside an adventure novel.

I don't know if I am really happy that these temples are ruins now - dramatic, untamed state where massive silk-cotton and fig tree roots engulf crumbling, mortarless stone walls. 

The moss on the stone, the overgrown trees engulfing the stones, the way the roots and the stones coexist without breaking the other...it actually added more beauty to this man made structure. It went beyond craftsmanship and skills to a different level...it is almost philosophical.

These Apsaras and the amazing buildings were built during the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII as a monastery and a university.

***Comedy Alert***

Our guide Sam asked me to walk towards this tree root. He asked me to stand there for a picture. He was really a good photographer and came up with really good poses. So I didn't even think twice to do what he said. He asked me to look up. Then he clicked this picture and he was laughing...as always...like a tubelight it took me a couple of minutes to realize what he asked me to look at!

The really cool sculpture in Ta Prohm is this little mythical animal that closely resembles a Stegosaurus. Was the Khmer people aware of the existence of dinosaurs? Did they just conjure up a similar figure out of their imagination? Did they have some knowledge that was passed down in the oral tradition that got sculpted in stone?

Whatever the case maybe...it was so very cool to see it in person.

Sam, as usual, came up with this cool picture. I was a little worried what else was inside the tree hole I was stuck in. Things we would do just to get a cool picture :)

Portal between Worlds!

This doorway just standing tall among ruins seemed to evoke a million little musings! Is this a portal between worlds? Can one be transported to a different time period if we pass under this threshold? Is this a wormhole? Is this a gateway to a Fairyland? Do universes align in this particular point? Can one step into an unknown reality through this doorframe?

Who actually walked through this door in the past? Were they happy, sad, lonely? Where are they now?