AusBonsai

I pinched these pictures from
http://my.opera.com/tachien/albums/show.dml?id=662579 -- I donot think they are
copy-righted -- (or at least I hope so!)

This is the ruin of Angkor, an ancient city of the Khmer Empire -- now
Cambodia. It was perhaps one of the most romantic empires in the ancient
Far East.

According to Western archaeologists, at the peak of its power, the city
was ten times bigger than London and Paris at the times -- I cannot give
an exact reference to this, I heard on a program by run SBS a little while
back.

I believe the trees are of a ficus variety:











The Khmer architectures were heavily influenced by Indian. A typical decoration
on a building wall:



I am not too sure how this inspire us -- but certainly the forces of
nature are to be respected.

Best regards.

Wow, those trees are amazing, some very nice pics, would love to see this place in person one day.
Thanks for sharing.

Definitely inspiring Viet, thanks for sharing.
I remember seeing pictures of a bonsai strangler fig that was grown over a Balinese statue in this style. Very effective and very original. Wish I knew where I saw it [anyone?].

Regards,
Steven

Gives some meaning the the term "Root over Rock" doesn't it

Very nice and would be awesome to see in real life

Ken

Hi Steven, the fig over statue you are referring to is probably one of many such pieces of art created by Thor Beowulf in his Woollahra studio.

Steven wrote:Definitely inspiring Viet, thanks for sharing.
I remember seeing pictures of a bonsai strangler fig that was grown over a Balinese statue in this style. Very effective and very original. Wish I knew where I saw it [anyone?].

Regards,
Steven

In bali i saw a few examples of this but didn't take pictures as i didn't take cameras into sacred temples were we pray.
Thanks for sharing the root over temple photos viet

very interesting viet, if my memory serve's me correct Jerry Meislik has these shots in his "GROWING FICUS" book. these too are stranglers.

Heh, I just love natures disregard for anything man-made...

Having dropped in on Angkor during a trip through SEA a few years back now, I wholeheartedly recommend that EVERYONE visit it. It is amazing, the jungle just consumed the place to great effect. Ta Prom is the temple covered by tree roots within the pictures and it's definately one of the most impressive, coming second only to Angkor Wat itself.

If you can stand the heat, go and visit! NOW!

boomy_power wrote:Heh, I just love natures disregard for anything man-made...

Ironic really. Nice for a change.

JayC