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| This monster tree knocked down a wall! |
When
it comes to ancient Asian temples, everyone has seen that romantic
image of an overgrown temple ruin in the jungle, as put forth by
Hollywood movies. Massive carved stone heads are surrounded by
immense stone pillars. Abandoned centuries ago, green vines cover the
stone walls, while trees grow out of collapsed ceilings.
For
once, Hollywood was right. That place
does exist, and I'm looking at it now. It’s found here in Cambodia, in the Khmer temples of
Angkor.
Part
of the amazement of experiencing these temples in person, is seeing
the variety of condition these many temples are in. Some like Angkor
Wat are fairly well preserved.
Others lie completely collapsed and
destroyed. Several have been completely overgrown with jungle growth.
Others seem to be a combination of all of the above.
But
perhaps none quite captures the human imagination, as the temple of
Ta Prohm.
Part temple, part ruin, part nature, as I approach Ta Prohm, the
first sight that grabs my attention, is what can only be described
as a great tree of destruction.
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| Is it a giant snake?? No, it's tree roots! |
This
massive tree sits on top of a wall, and towers high above it.
Meanwhile, the tree’s roots look like the tentacles of a giant
squid, as though formed from Jules Verne’s imagination. The roots appear to
have pushed over this strong stone wall, with no more effort than it
takes for a child to push over a wall of toy blocks. A gaping section
of the wall, is now only a pile of stone bricks. A root of the great
tree has creeped across them, burying itself in the earth beyond
these measly human cut stones. The tree’s light bark contrasts with the
blackened stones that have tumbled down below.
If you have read J.R.R. Tolkien, this tree could have been an ent from Lord of the Rings. It’s
as though a mythical tree hopped up on the wall one night, and
reasserted the power of mother nature, bringing back the jungle to
cover the vanity of man.
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| 'Tomb Raider Tree' made famous by Angelina Jolie |
Along
another part of the wall, a colossal tree has grown up on both sides
of the wall, towering over the tons of stone below it. This one gives
the impression that it is supporting the wall, and holding it in
place.
Others
great trees have their roots flowing down over the walls smoothly,
reaching downward like running water. They resemble a waterfall,
frozen into tree roots. Still another has grown lengthwise over stone blocks, appearing as a giant serpent.
Movie
buffs may recognize one stone gripping temple tree, from a scene in
the film, ‘Tomb Raider’. I once chatted with a Khmer policeman,
who had worked with the production crew while the film was in
production here. “I see Angelina Jolie,” he told me perkily. “She
beautiful!”
As
a melding of temple and nature, Ta Prohm truly is a place of wonder
and romance. I wonder if this exotic locale had any influence on
Angelina Jolie. Cambodia certainly made some impression on the famous actress; she adopted a Khmer orphan to be her own son.
There
used to be far more jungle growth covering Ta Prohm temple, but
most of it was removed during restoration. When they got to these
impressive trees however, they noted that removing them would damage
the walls and monuments even further. Leaving the great trees where
they are leaves a visual balance; it shows that Angkor is not just
about temples, it is also jungle.
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| Restoration laborer, hard at work |
Closer
examination on some walls and reveals perfectly round holes dotting
stone building blocks. These are not bullet holes as I saw at Angkor Wat; these are all holes left over from the days of original construction. Ancient
Khmer construction methods had these blocks moved by sticking wooden
rods into these holes for easier lifting.
I
come to one of the temple's stone archways, and it’s blocked off. A
sign reads, “NO ENTRY, WORK AREA”. Looking in near the sign, I
find a workman lying asleep on a dislodged block. So much for
working. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Khmer men, they can
sleep soundly on almost any surface. Whether it’s grass, concrete,
a motorbike seat, or a stone block, you can find them snoozing almost
anywhere.
Besides
Ta Prohm, restorations are in progress in several other temples
around the Angkor complex. As Cambodia is such a poor country, most
of the funding comes from foreign sources. India is providing
financial aid to restore one temple. That's not surprising, since India is
the home of the Hindu religion. When these temples were first built, the Khmers were Hindu, before later turning Buddhist. The
Japanese and German governments fund repairs on other temples. There
are so many hundreds of temples around Angkor, that all of them will
never be restored in our lifetime.
I
know an American Vietnam War veteran, who spent time in Cambodia in
recent years. He decided he would personally visit every single
ancient Khmer temple in the Siem Reap region.
It
took him six weeks to see them all!!
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| The towers and trees of Ta Prohm |
