Construction work began on June 20 for the “world’s largest Ramayan temple” in Bihar’s East Champaran district. Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and secretary of the Patna-based Mahavir Temple Trust, Acharya Kishor Kunal, along with former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, Justice S. N. Jha, and others, laid the foundation stone. Work commenced following some religious rituals at the site.
The construction of the three-storeyed Viraat Ramayan temple will be completed by the end of 2025 at an estimated cost of ₹500 crore. The temple will be taller than the 12th century Angkor Wat temple complex at Cambodia. The temple will be constructed in 3.76 lakh sq. ft. land in the Kaithwalia-Bahuara villages under the Kalyanur block on Kesaria-Chakia road in East Champaran district, about 120 km from the State capital, Patna. The temple will have 12 domes, the highest of which will be 270 ft tall, and 22 sanctum sanctorum for different deities. The temple will be 2,800 ft in length, 1,400 ft in width and 405 ft in height. The complex will have marriage halls and guest houses too.
The temple will also have a 33-ft-high black granite Shivling weighing 200 tonnes, which is being made at Mahabalipuram near Chennai. “This Shivling will also be world’s largest Shivling and be established by Mahashivratri of 2025,” Mr. Kunal said. The temple will have sitting capacity of 20,000 people at a time.
The architecture of the world’s largest temple is inspired by the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, and in south India, the Ramanathaswami temple in Rameshwaram and the Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple in Madurai.
