Photographers, and anyone who wants to see the jungle holding the stone
Ta Prohm is a Buddhist temple and monastery at Angkor, founded in 1186 by King Jayavarman VII in honour of his mother. It was deliberately left largely unrestored, so huge silk-cotton and strangler fig trees still grow out of its galleries, and it is known as the Tomb Raider temple after the 2001 film. Entry is covered by the Angkor Pass and most visitors spend about an hour.
September 2026
Photo: GayleKaren, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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Ta Prohm is the jungle temple of Angkor, a 12th-century Buddhist monastery where giant silk-cotton and strangler fig trees still grow out of the galleries. It was deliberately left much as the French found it, and walking through its half-collapsed corridors is the closest Angkor comes to the feeling of discovery.
Most of Angkor has been cleared, rebuilt and tidied over the last century. Ta Prohm is the exception. Here the roots still pour over walls like wax from a candle, stones lie where they fell and the light comes green through the canopy. It is the temple that people remember from photographs before they ever arrive.
Two kinds of tree dominate Ta Prohm. The tall, pale giants with buttress roots that drape over the gallery roofs are usually identified as silk-cotton trees or Tetrameles nudiflora, known locally as spung. The smaller trees whose roots grip the stone in a tight net are strangler figs.
The trees are both the charm and the problem. Their roots have pushed walls apart and brought galleries down, yet in many places they now hold the stones together. Cutting them out would bring down the very walls they wrap. Conservation teams monitor the largest trees, prop up the weakest walls and prune carefully, trying to keep the balance between ruin and forest.
A spung tree whose roots cascade down over a doorway in the inner enclosure. It is the most photographed spot in the temple and is signposted for good reason.
A small carved face peers out from between the roots of a tree, almost swallowed by the wood. Ask your guide to show you, as it is easy to walk past.
A pillared hall near the east side, carved with dancing apsaras. Its restoration was completed in 2022 and it shows how the monastery looked in its prime.
A small round carving on a doorway pillar that looks, to modern eyes, like a dinosaur with plates on its back. Most scholars read it as a rhinoceros or boar against a leafy background.
Graceful female guardians and finely carved false doors line the inner galleries, many softened by moss and lichen.
Heaps of carved blocks lie where they fell. Walk slowly and you will find lintels, pediments and apsaras among the rubble.
| Ticket | Covered by the Angkor Pass: 1 day $37, 3 days $62, 7 days $72 |
|---|---|
| Where to buy | Angkor ticket office on Road 60, or online through Angkor Enterprise |
| Children | Under 12 free; bring a passport as proof of age |
| Opening hours | Daily, reported as 6:00 am to 6:30 pm; confirm locally |
| Time needed | About an hour, or 90 minutes if you love to photograph |
| Access | Wooden walkways, uneven stone and some steps; not step-free |
Ta Prohm is at its best early in the morning. Arrive at opening time and you will have the courtyards to yourself for a precious half hour, with soft light filtering through the trees. The tour groups usually arrive from about 8:30 to 9:00 am, straight after the sunrise at Angkor Wat and a visit to the Bayon.
Late afternoon is the second choice, when the groups have moved to sunset points. The canopy keeps Ta Prohm cooler than the open temples, which makes it a good choice in the hot months of March to May. In the green season from June to October the moss is vivid and the stone darkens after rain, which many photographers prefer.
Tuk-tuks usually drop visitors at the west entrance and collect them at the east, so you walk the temple in a single line. A simple plan:
Watch the barriers. Several areas are roped off because walls are propped up or at risk of collapse. They look photogenic, but they are closed for your safety and to protect what is left.
Ta Prohm is east of Angkor Thom on the “small circuit”, the classic loop that also takes in Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Ta Keo. From central Siem Reap it is about 20 to 30 minutes by tuk-tuk. Most visitors fit it into a first day at Angkor, and it pairs naturally with Banteay Kdei and the royal pool of Srah Srang just to the south-east.
If Ta Prohm leaves you wanting more, Preah Khan offers the same trees and ruins on a bigger scale with far fewer visitors, and Beng Mealea is wilder still.
We time our Angkor days so you reach Ta Prohm at the quiet ends of the day, with a Khmer guide who knows where the hidden carvings are and how the temple is being saved. It is part of our Cambodia Classic Highlights and our Siem Reap Green Journey, and we can add it to any Cambodia trip. Send us an enquiry and we will build your temple days around you.
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