Nicknamed the Tomb Raider temple, the Ankorian temple Ta Prohm is set to lose four of its iconic trees. Despite being famous for the trees that overrun this ruin, the government has found that it is no longer safe to let nature take its course…
The Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA) has found that three of the cotton-silk trees that intertwine with the temple’s ruins are already dead and rotting from the inside out. In addition, one of the larger trees that blankets on of the temple’s walls is no longer able to be propped up by its roots or the supportive ropes and wooden scaffolding.
“We’ve tried for many years to prop it up … but when the wind is strong, it is very dangerous,” APSARA spokesperson Kerya Chau Sun said to the Phnom Penh Post.
“We have to be very careful because if we cut the tree out, the wall will collapse; but if we rebuild the wall, the tree will die. It’s a difficult balance,” Chau Sun said.
The forestry department will be charged with removing the trees from the 12th century ruin. The temple will remain open to visitor as the trees are removed in pieces.
Earlier this week,a Buddhist ceremony was held for the trees. Many temples in Angkor are popular because of how the trees grow to become part of the temples. Chau Sun told the Post that these trees “are considered part of the cultural landscape and are only removed if they are damaged or diseased, potentially hazardous, spoil the landscape or threaten the monument’s structural integrity.”
“In this case, we have to cut before it becomes too dangerous and someone gets hurt,” she told the Post.