Ta Prohm Temple of Tonle Bati – Takeo Province

A large temple complex featuring a square sandstone temple with two library buildings, an outer enclosure with vaulted galleries and pavilions, another enclosure with permanent basins, and entrance gopura on the east and west. The temple was built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th or early 13th century. It is smaller than the similar Ta Prohm of Angkor but features a lot of very unique art.

East entrance pavilion – or the remains thereof, located 160 m east of the temple. It’s the first remnants you’ll see before casting eyes on the main temple site further ahead.

Next, the east gopura, which was a chambered entrance built into the outer enclosure wall that also featured smaller entrances on its north, south, and west sides. It was preceded by traces of what appears to be a laterite terrace.

Inside the wall and to the right is the assembly of remains.

The east entrance gopura of the inner galleried enclosure that featured smaller entrances on its north, south, and west sides. You cannot miss the two beautiful lintels stationed out front and inside a statue and fragment of a round decorated door column.

Inside the central enclosure, are two small buildings on either side referred to as libraries. The one to the south features an intact lintel above which is a faint carving in the pediment of a seated Boddhisvatta. The lintel on the north library is still in situ but fragmented.

The central temple is stunning, featuring a mass of bas-relief carvings with female deities adorning the walls where it’s hard to find an inch that’s undecorated. It is quite wonderful to get the chance to see such an array of art and architecture condensed into a small and easy to peruse temple. Take your time here, the quirks and features are endless, and some of it won’t be seen at Angkor or elsewhere.

Inside the temple, a standing Buddha statue in the first chamber and in the central chamber another standing Buddha, and in the third chamber, only remnants remain. Keep looking up on your way through as there are decorated lintels, one quite special one in great condition.

The central temple becomes one with the west entrance on the inner enclosure leading out to a courtyard and on further to the west entrance which features a seated Boddhisvatta in the pediment above the lintel. Around the site, there are several lintels and curious remnants to catch your eye, along with two basins o the eastern side.

Nearby, in Wat Tonle Bati immediately east of this temple, is Yeay Pow Temple. You can reach the site via Road 2 out of Phnom Penh (which at the time of the last visit was under reconstruction – early 2022)