Temple gate- angkor thom

AngkorThom

The gate to the city of ankor that is what i understood about angkor thom. you can see the 3 faced vishnu statue along the road. each side of the road you can see statues of gods and demons. according to hindu culture to get the nectar of immortality gods and demons agreed to join hands  for once to churn the ocean. for this they approach the snake king and he agrees to be the string. so the demons pull the tail and the gods pull the head...

that is what is figured here in angkor thom.

a close up of god :P

rajeev helping the demons in churning the nectar :P

close up of the gate.

 there are children everywhere...selling magnets. i got to know that government is trying to stop  the begging business which is something serious. we would give this little girl a dollar  and the moment we leave, a guy would come out from the woods and take it from her...or she would run to some guy who would be waiting for the money.

 a woman selling soveniers

imtiaz with kids selling postcards and magnets.

we passed  through the gates of angkor once the captial of khmer empire and our next destination - BAYON

Temples - Ta prohm

we took angkor temple pass..20 dollar per person for a day and started our temple safari . the first stop was TA prohm temple made famous by the tomb .raider movie. the entry to the temple was through a 4 faced vishnu in shape of a cross. a further 300 metres walk in the jungle you reach the TA prohm temple.

entering the Ta prohm temple

this is a photographers paradise..one cant resist the scenic trees and rock temples together. there were lots of tourists and even children selling sovinirs like magnets for Dollar one.. seemed like everything started with one dollar.

 a girl selling magnets


inside the temple its the wow moment. trees tangled with the rocks..as the guide said its a fight between the rocks and the trees..the fight has started years ago and still continuing..the tendrils of the trees have strangled the rocks..some of the rocks have fallen apart bringing smaller temples with it..and some rocks have been kept intact by the tendrils..strange ways to protect and destroy.

the chinese are the number one for posing …i waited for almost 10 minutes for this lady. she almost took 100 pictures.

the tomb raider was shot in this temple..so even to take pictures at this window/ gate which is covered by the tendrils of the tree..you need to wait..not just the chinese!!

children having a wonderful time

the gallery

ruins

 woman selling bhudish lucky bands

finally we took leave..TAPROHM is something that will be etched in our memory till the last ..i just loved this temple.