Challenging Steps up to the Monastery at Amorgos

A Closer Look at the Monastery at the Cliff Face of Amorgos

The Monastery up on the Cliff Face of Amorgos Island

A Hike to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery (3000m High) in Bhutan. . .Picture taken by my Wife

The Water Lilies in the TszShan Monastery 1

The Water Lilies in the TszShan Monastery 2

The Water Lilies in the TszShan Monastery 3

The Water Lilies in the TszShan Monastery 4

Rediscovered Memories – Ta Prohm, Cambodia (2)

Ta Prohm’s original name was Rajavihara which  means “the royal monastery”.  It has a romantic atmosphere  and many hidden corners.

There are two main types of trees at Ta Prohm, the silk-cotton tree, Ceiba pentandra, with huge trunks, and the strangler fig Ficus gibbosa, which draps itself around other trees with its multiple grey roots. The strangler figs and silk-cotton trees entwined among the ruins add to the eerie quality of the place.

The picture below shows how the massive roots of the silk-cotton tree frames around an opening.

Here is a picture showing the strangler fig, attaching itself to the walls.

There are many hidden corners in the monastery, many of them have sculptures of Devatas. An example is shown below.

Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques  in their book “Ancient Angkor” described “….Ta Prohm has the romantic appeal of, say, a Piranesi ruin: partly overgrown and gently declining”. This reflects truly our feeling when we were there.