Over the next two days we visited numerous temples, always starting early in the morning, breaking during the hottest part of the day, then resuming around 3:30pm. Following are some of the highlights:
Ta Phrom – This was my favorite of all the temples we visited. It has been only partially restored, but purposely so, to show visitors the difference between restored and unrestored temples. This temple is what I pictured all the temples to look like because it is literally being overtaken by the jungle. Huge banyan trees grow out of and atop the walls, large stones are in heaps next to leaning doorways, and giant roots transverse the structure. Ta Phrom is an ancestral temple, built to honor one of the king’s mothers, so there are no giant towers but it was impressive nonetheless. This is actually the one of the temples in which the movie “Tomb Raider” with Angelina Jolie was filmed. Picture: Tree growing atop the temple.
Banteay Kdei—Another temple that served as a Buddhist university built by the same king as Ta Phrom but it was dedicated to his teacher. In the past there were wooden houses and buildings in the jungle surrounding the temple that housed the students and served as classrooms, but considering they were built more than 500 years ago they are long gone. The temple was used for religious ceremonies for the students and teachers. Picture: All three of us outside the temple.
Prasat Kravan—Built in the 900s, this was the oldest temple we saw. It was unusual because it was much smaller than the others and was made of brick rather than stone. The surface was very smooth because the bricks were put together using a vegetable compound rather than mortar. Picture: Mom by some reliefs in the bricks.
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