july 17th, 2006
the indian efforts at chemically restoring just the apsaras at the angkor wat temple have been roundly condemned as too harsh by the french. i dont take the french exactly at their word, considering, among other things, their willingness to give 'chevalier' titles to christist agents provocateurs like that godman cedric prakash. besides, as the former colonial power in cambodia, france believes only they know what's good for cambodia.
this bit about the ASI 'planning' to work on Ta Prohm is nonsense. there has been an ongoing project for 5 or so years, and it's part of an 11-year project. i met an ASI archaeologist when in cambodia. i heard him speaking malayalam at a phone booth, and got talking -- he is sarangadharan from kayamkulam. anyway, i also met him later at Ta Prohm.
this is the fantastic-looking temple complex where giant cottonwood, fig and other trees have grown through the temples, so that now the tree roots are actually holding the temple together. i have some photos, or you can look at the world heritage tour site i posted earlier, or a google search will bring up photos by a professional photographer (i forget his name) who has eerie pictures of the place. actually it's a wonderfully atmospheric temple complex.
sarangadharan told me that they are not planning to cut the trees down.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1767710.cms
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