India to Replicate Cambodia’s Angkor Wat

Built during the reign of Hindu King Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat is one of Cambodia’s prime tourist destinations. (Associated Press)

March 12, 2012
By Preetika Rana
The Wall Street Journal Blog

Mr. Kunal claims that the temple venture will “drastically boost” tourism in India, although the country’s tourism officials appear oblivious of the initiative.

Indians who haven’t yet seen Cambodia’s 12th-century Angkor Wat temple have reason to cheer: the World Heritage site is being recreated on the banks of holy River Ganges, in the eastern state of Bihar.

To be built by the privately-run Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust, the temple will have five stories and stand 222-feet tall. It will be taller than Tamil Nadu’s Brihadeeswarar temple, making it the “tallest Hindu temple in the world,” the trust announced Monday. The estimated cost of the 10-year long project is about $20 million, or one billion rupees, the trust says.

So what inspired this initiative?

“I have always been fascinated by the beauty and grandeur of Angkor Wat,” Acharya Kishore Kunal, secretary of the trust, told The Wall Street Journal. “Recreating the masterpiece would be a tribute to India,” he added.

Built during the reign of Hindu King Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat is one of Cambodia’s prime tourist destinations. Spread across a sprawling campus of 203-acres, the temple was chiefly dedicated to Lord Vishnu, one of the Hindu Gods, until the late 13th century. In the years ahead, the temple became dedicated to Lord Buddha.

Its Indian replica, “Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir,” will be built on a 40-acre campus on the Hajipur-Bidupur road, about 20 kilometers from Bihar’s state capital, Patna, the trust says.

The place where the temple will be built is, “no ordinary site,” Mr. Kunal says. Legend has it that Hindu deity, Ram, and his brother Lakshman set foot here, he adds. Lord Ram is chiefly worshiped by Hindus across the globe and believed to be an earthly incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Mr. Kunal claims that the temple venture will “drastically boost” tourism in India, although the country’s tourism officials appear oblivious of the initiative.

“We have not heard or seen any news reports of the temple,” a spokeswoman for India’s Ministry of Tourism said. In Bihar, Priteshwar Prasad, the assistant director of tourism, said he had, “no knowledge” of the shrine. India Real Time has more.