Temples, rajas and king cobras: India’s connection with Cambodia is one of faith

In its heyday, Ta Prohm was a very important part of Angkor, the royal monastery or ‘Wat’. It was built in 1186 by the Khmer Raja Jayavarman VII in honor of his mother Jayashitamani.

Rajavihara Ta Prohm in Siem Reap Cambodia is the archetypical lost jungle temple. Today, one of the most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region, it found itself a star when Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft theTomb Raider fell through the earth into the temple’s lap.

The temple caught the public’s imagination. Ta Prohm was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and its restoration was taken up by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).

Giant trees stand tall atop temples pushing down its roots across the face of the crumbling shrine. This snake-mongoose-dancesque embrace of tree and temple makes for a fascinating watch. After centuries of abandonment the trees are discovered in this naked death dance.

The guide scans the tourist in a Jack-and-the-beanstalk pose for a panoramic shot of the tree, the temple and the couple. A smiling face of the Buddha stares in all four directions. It is the face of the King who built the temple, Jayavarman VII, a demi-god when alive and in death, a Buddha.

In its heyday, Ta Prohm was a very important part of Angkor, the royal monastery or ‘Wat’. It was built in 1186 by the Khmer Raja Jayavarman VII in honor of his mother Jayashitamani.

A guide points his phone with a picture at his visitors. “Recently a gold crown was excavated at the site,” he says. Another guide, Samneang. Sam for short, shrugs nonchalantly “We are still finding things,” he says as wide-eyed Americans squint at the phone.