Ta Prohm was built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara. It is located 1km east of Angkor Thom. It was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.

The trees growing out of the ruins are perhaps the most distinctive feature of Ta Prohm. Two species predominate, but sources disagree on their identification: the larger is either the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) or thitpok (Tetrameles nudiflora), and the smaller is either the strangler fig (Ficus gibbosa) or Gold Apple (Diospyros decandra).