Ta Som Temple , Siem Reap

 

Ta Som is a small temple at Angkor , built at the end of the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII. It is located north east of Angkor Thom and just east of Neak Pean .

The King dedicated the temple to his father Dharanindravarman II who was King of the Khmer Empire from 1150 to 1160. The temple consists of a single shrine located on one level and surrounded by enclosure laterite walls .


The nearby Preah Khan and Ta Prohm the temple was left largely unrestored , with numerous trees and other vegetation growing among the ruins . In 1998, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) added the temple to their restoration program and began work to stabilise the structure to make it safer for visitors .

Designed to be entered from the east, Ta Som is surrounded by a moat and enclosed by three walls which are broken by two sets of big main door . The pattern are cross-shaped and contain a small room on each side along with windows containing balusters .

The main structure are carved with four smile faces and The eastern outer structure has been overgrown by a sacred fig which has grown down through the blocks that make in the structure and into the ground . The inner section of the temple consists of a central cruciform sanctuary with porches at each arm surrounded by four corner pavilions . little restoration work had been done at Ta Som until the 1950s. At this time some propping of structures that were near collapse was carried out . The WMF team began to document and repair the site and carry out emergency stabilization of fragile structures and improvement to visitor flow around the monument . conducted clearing and documentation works that allowed the temple to be accessed from all four sides. Many sandstone blocks were repaired .