塔普伦寺—柬埔寨寺院

　柬埔寨塔普伦寺 （Ta Prohm）

　　塔普伦寺是古真腊吴哥王朝的国王加亚华尔曼七世为他母亲所修建的寺院。

　　加亚华尔曼七世统治真腊的的时间在1181年到1201年，他即位时大约已过五十岁，在1186年为了纪念母亲，即下令着手兴建塔普伦寺。当年它是一所拥有高僧、祭司，舞女，具有庙宇和修院双重功用的神殿。

　　塔普伦寺(Ta Prohm)从十九世纪中叶法国人发现这群庙山之后，即因被树根茎干盘结地过份而放弃整修，保持了原始模样。阳光穿过树头，悄悄地从残破的屋顶伸入塔普伦寺庙内，然后像嬉游的灵魂般轻飞游移，一会儿驻足在无头神像上，一会儿憩息在墙上浮雕神祇中。隐身树中的山鸟啼咕出叩叩声，像是昔日僧侣敲打木鱼的残响，唤活了弥漫四野的邃古灵气。更令人深感震撼的是，结实雄大的榙普伦寺，竟被当地人称为蛇树的卡波克(Kapok)树所盘踞，它们粗壮发亮的根茎，绕过梁柱、探入石缝、盘绕在屋檐上、裹住窗门，深稳紧密地缚住神庙，以让枝干有力地向天攀升。由一颗不起眼的小种子开始，历经数百年的努力，而今卡波克葱茂的树叶就像祈神的臂膀，成功地伸向天际，与神庙争光，蔚为奇观，以至有些学者甚至认为这些树也应列入神庙历史的一部份而一并保护。

　　此处位于吴哥窟南部33公里处，四周长、宽据说原有1000公尺、600公尺，尊奉婆罗门教和佛教，当地人称之为“小吴哥窟”， 但是现在崩落毁损的情况相当严重，目前只剩下长、宽各为40公尺及30公尺的内层围墙了。 4面方位开有4座门廊，主殿面向东方，北侧突出门廊上有6臂保护神Vishnu的浮雕。由东门走进来，会经过一道长长回廊，长廊顶端有成列仙女Apsara的浮雕，透露出飘逸浪漫气息，所以有“舞者长廊”的美誉。神殿内则是供奉“智慧女神”Prajnaparamita，传说是依据JayavarmanⅦ的母亲形象而塑造雕刻。还有一处内室称为“回音塔”，站在塔里面的某一定点，用力拍胸脯时会产生宏亮的声声回音，真是神奇又有趣。

　　This temple had been left more or less as it was found, with an overgrowth of jungle and portions tumbled down, but restoration work funded by the government of India began in 2006. It gives you some idea of what the first westerners found when they began exploring the area in the late 19th century. This is a huge temple, one of the largest single complexes in the Angkor group. It's all on one level though, so there are (almost) no high stairways to climb, but there are a lot of thresholds to cross, so you do get a lot of exercise exploring this place. Ta Prohm is a place you should definitely plan on seeing, to give you some idea of what the other temples looked like before they were restored. The trouble is, it has become so popular - thanks to a certain hollywood movie - that it can be quite difficult to see anything at all, for the hordes of tourists.

　　Ta Prohm was one of the first temples built by the great builder king Jayavarman VII. The construction date is set around 1186. The temple is dedicated to the king's mother, while the later Preah Khan was dedicated to his father. The plan is very similar to Preah Khan, with a huge labyrinthine inner sanctuary, a large courtyard just inside the eastern gateway, and even a two story building north of the courtyard similar to the one at Preah Khan, although without the distinctive round columns found in the example at the later site.

　　Like most of the other temples built by Jayavarman VII, Ta Prohm was originally a Buddhist monastery, but later kings removed the Buddhist elements and altered the relief work to make it into a Hindu temple. In its day, Ta Prohm was an extremely wealthy temple. It 'owned' more than 3,000 villages and took nearly 80,000 people to maintain the temple, including 18 high priests, 2,740 official, 2,000 assistants and 615 dancers. The temple's possessions included around 500 kilograms of gold dishes, dozens of diamonds, and thousands of pearls and precious stones.

　　Enter the temple through the east gate. The long white sandy path between the outer gate and the inner sanctuary is courtesy of the film Tomb Raider. At the end of the trail is a typical ceremonial terrace in front of the large eastern gateway to the inner sanctuary. Past the grand gateway is a large court with galleries. Behind the court is another wall enclosing the central sanctuary. Passing through this wall brings you to the crowded courtyard with the walled central sanctuary in the center. At this point, I suggest you veer to the left, making your way around the southern wall of the central sanctuary, between it and a large enclosed annex built along the southern outer wall. This will bring you to the southwest corner of the courtyard. From here there is a good view of several large trees growing on the wall of the central sanctuary. There's even a mound of earth and stones near the outer wall that makes a good elevated spot to take a picture.

　　Next, make your way through the west gate into the inner sanctuary. All around the central sanctuary, there are several more fantastic tree-in-temple shots. Exit the inner sanctuary by the east gate, putting you back behind the galleried court. Veer left to walk around the north side of the inner sanctuary, back towards the west side, where there are several more interesting trees and sculptures. Finally, exit the Ta Prohm complex by the west gate.

　　The best time to visit Ta Prohm is in the afternoon, when the light falls best in the southwest courtyard.