Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia

Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia

I have just returned from a painting trip in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  When signing up for the trip, it seemed like a wild and wacky thing to go half way around the world, over 9000 miles, but the allure of the ancient Khmer temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, and Banteay Srei was too much to resist.  How could I pass up such an opportunity when it dropped in my lap?

It is Ta Prohm that most enchants.  Imagine coming into a jungle forest clearing to find a lost and forgotten temple. Tall fig, bayon and kapok trees send their roots down into the stone imprisoning ancient sculptures, toppling stones into walkways and uprooting terraces.  Yellow and green lichen soften stone with the patina of age. Sunlight filters through a leafy canopy above casting shadows here and warming stone there.  Excavation of the site has been with an eye to giving the visitor a sense of the archaeologist's discovery and wonder.

Angkor Wat is a majestic temple complex surrounded by an immense moat.  A mountain rising out of a vast ocean, it is symbolic of the paradisiacal Mount Mero.  Angkor Thom, ancient city, once home to over a million people proclaims the majesty of its then kings through its terraced, towered and sculptural temples rising above the forest canopy.   Banteay Srei, the woman's temple, is small and intimate with beautifully carved reliefs of pink sandstone.

Angkor Wat

Baphuon, Angkor Thom

Bayon, Angkor Thom

Banteay Srei