Ta Som is a small temple in Angkor, Cambodia, built at the end of the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII. It is located northeast of Angkor Thom and east of Neak Pean. The King dedicated the temple to his father, Dharanindravarman II (Paramanishkalapada), 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 laterite walls of the enclosure. Like the Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, the temple was left largely unconstrained, with numerous trees and other vegetation growing among the ruins. [1] In 1998, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) added the temple to its restoration program and began work to stabilize the structure to make it safer for visitors.

Structure

Designed to enter from the east, Ta Som is surrounded by a moat and enclosed by three laterite walls that are broken by two sets of gopura (entrance paths). The gopuras are shaped like a cross and contain a small room on each side along with windows that contain balusters. The main structure of the gopura is carved with four faces in the Bayon style. [1] The eastern outer gopura was covered by a sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa) which grew through the blocks that make up the gopura and on the ground. [3] The inner section of the temple consists of a central cruciform shrine with balconies on each arm surrounded by four corner pavilions. Two small libraries sit on either side of the east entrance way.

Restoration

According to the APSARA Authority that manages the temples in Angkor Park, small restoration work was done in Ta Som until the 1950s. At this time, some structures that were close to collapse were made. After WMF added Ta Som to its project, the WMF team began documenting and interpreting the site and performing the emergency stabilization of fragile structures and improving the flow of visitors around the monument. [4] In 2007, the WMF and the APSARA Authority conducted whitening and documentation work that allowed the temple to be accessed from all four sides. Many sandstone blocks were repaired and this enabled the reconstruction of the North Central Fronton of Gopura.