Monday, March 5th, 2012 | Posted by News Desk
‘Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir’: World’s Largest Hindu Temple to Come Up in Bihar
India is all set to have the world’s largest Hindu temple, ‘Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir’ exactly like Angkor Vat, Cambodia. Bhumi pooja for the construction of the temple will be conducted today, at the proposed site.
The decision to build the temple was declared public by the Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust on Sunday. The estimated cost of the temple is Rs 100 crores. It will have 5 stories and will have a height of 222 feet. The location of the temple, Ismailpur village will be renamed Angkor Nagar.
“We will build a bigger temple in Bihar’s Vaishali district than the 12th century Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. The name of the temple will be ‘Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir’. The site is blessed as Ram, Lakshman and Vishwamitra were welcomed here on their arrival by King Sumati of the Vaishali kingdom,” said Acharya Kishore Kunal, BMMT secretary and ex-IPS officer, adding that land valued at Rs 30 crore has been acquired for the temple.
“As far as the size of the main temple is concerned it will be the largest Hindu temple in the world with its ‘shikhar’ 222 ft. tall which no temple in the country or the world has,” said the Acharya. The temple will have all divine heads of Hinduism- Shiva Parvathy, Ganesha, Skanda, 10 avataras of Vishnu, Surya, Radha and Krishna. “It will take up to five years to construct the temple and another five years to give finishing touches to it,” he said.
Angkor Wat temple is in Cambodia and was built by King Suryavarman in the 12th century. He is said to have ruled Cambodia from AD 1141-1152. Cambodia was known as Kambojadesam.

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

http://indiawires.com/8414/news/national/virat-angkor-wat-ram-mandir-worlds-largest-hindu-temple-to-come-up-in-bihar/

Monday, March 5th, 2012 | Posted by News Desk
‘Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir’: World’s Largest Hindu Temple to Come Up in Bihar
India is all set to have the world’s largest Hindu temple, ‘Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir’ exactly like Angkor Vat, Cambodia. Bhumi pooja for the construction of the temple will be conducted today, at the proposed site.
The decision to build the temple was declared public by the Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust on Sunday. The estimated cost of the temple is Rs 100 crores. It will have 5 stories and will have a height of 222 feet. The location of the temple, Ismailpur village will be renamed Angkor Nagar.
“We will build a bigger temple in Bihar’s Vaishali district than the 12th century Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. The name of the temple will be ‘Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir’. The site is blessed as Ram, Lakshman and Vishwamitra were welcomed here on their arrival by King Sumati of the Vaishali kingdom,” said Acharya Kishore Kunal, BMMT secretary and ex-IPS officer, adding that land valued at Rs 30 crore has been acquired for the temple.
“As far as the size of the main temple is concerned it will be the largest Hindu temple in the world with its ‘shikhar’ 222 ft. tall which no temple in the country or the world has,” said the Acharya. The temple will have all divine heads of Hinduism- Shiva Parvathy, Ganesha, Skanda, 10 avataras of Vishnu, Surya, Radha and Krishna. “It will take up to five years to construct the temple and another five years to give finishing touches to it,” he said.
Angkor Wat temple is in Cambodia and was built by King Suryavarman in the 12th century. He is said to have ruled Cambodia from AD 1141-1152. Cambodia was known as Kambojadesam.

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Awesome :cheers1:

Surprised to know the largest temple is in Cambodia.

Hopefully this is more successful that the Maitreya Buddha project in Bodh Gaya which ended up being moved to Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

And is Angkor Wat still the largest Hindu temple? And I though Akshardham was the largest.

Hopefully this is more successful that the Maitreya Buddha project in Bodh Gaya which ended up being moved to Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

And is Angkor Wat still the largest Hindu temple? And I though Akshardham was the largest.

Angkor Wat is the largest (so far) but no longer used actively as a temple. In this optic, Akshardham is said to be the largest.

Any pics or renders yet for this temple?

Sounds very exciting!

There is a Discovery Channel programme about Angkor Wat, Cambodia & how Indian traders back in the 11th Century traded with South East Asia, the history & how Angkor Wat got built.

Extremely educational & facinating how Indians back then influenced South East Asia culture today via Buddhism & Hinduism.

Anyway, this will provide many jobs & will be good for the local economy.

No pics as of now..Will try to get soon.

Well they did say it would be a larger version of the real Angkor Wat in Cambodia, so it would like a much, much newer version of this -

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2688/1024pxangkorwat.jpg
(C)Bjørn Christian Tørrissen

As much as I like the South East Asian ancient Hindu temples that are found in Cambodia, Indonesia etc I don't like exact replicas of famous sites. It would have been nice if they just built a temple in the same style.

yeah as much as I like Angkor Wat I wouldnt want them to replicate it.

Fascinating news! Though I hope it's not an upscaled replication as much as a temple architecturally inspired by Angkor Wat. The latter was the centerpiece of what was once one of Asia's largest cities and is a world heritage site.

It's good to see India looking East for historical inspiration. I'd love to see a Balinese/Majapahit-inspired Hindu temple in India as well!

Some more information, from WSJ.

Well, it seems it will be more like AW than not :( It's unfortunate. I would much rather see a tribute to Cambodia rather than a tourism-driven initiative..

The comments in that blog are worth reading. Now that the story's been picked up by WSJ, expect it to make the rounds in the news cycle and blogosphere.

India to Replicate Cambodia’s Angkor Wat (http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/03/09/india-to-replicate-cambodias-angkor-wat/?mod=google_news_blog)
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 India Real Time. “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. After India Real Time informed Mr. Prasad of the venture, he was quick to add that the project will, “definitely put Bihar on the global map.”

The Ministry of Tourism in Bihar may be pleased with the venture, but not everyone welcomes the move.

An official from the Cambodian embassy in New Delhi said the trust has not gotten permission to replicate Angkor Wat. “We are quite unhappy with this development,” she said, adding that the Cambodian government may request the Indian government to stall the project.

“We won’t let anyone confuse the world that there are two Angkor Wats,” Phay Siphan, a Cambodian government spokesman, told the New Zealand Herald.

Mr. Kunal, of the trust, said his group, “did not deem it appropriate” to communicate with the Cambodian government since the temple will, “not be an exact replica” of Angkor Wat. Three key differences will distinguish the Hindu temple from its Cambodian counterpart, he added.

First, the temple’s central tower will be 222-feet long, 12 feet higher than the one at Angkor Wat, he said.

Why 222-feet? According to ancient Hindu belief, the number 222 is auspicious and brings good fortune, he says.

The second distinguishing feature, Mr. Kunal says, is that the shrine will be built using concrete and granite, not the sandstone that was used to erect Angkor Wat. “We believe the material is far superior to sandstone,” he adds.

Third, the temple will house colossal marble idols of several Hindu deities, he says. These include Lord Ram and his consort Sita, Lord Krishna and companion Radha and Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Angkor Wat, on the other hand is chiefly dedicated to Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

“The Cambodian government should understand that we are not competing with Angkor Wat in any way,” he asserted.

The end objective, he says, is not to supersede the grandeur of the Cambodian shrine but to, “create a magnificent Hindu temple for our land.”

The trust plans to begin construction of the Hindu temple this May.

And the view from Cambodia. I tend to agree with them:

Angkor Wat? Cambodia fears replica will hit tourism sector (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10790703)
By Andrew Buncombe
5:30 AM Friday Mar 9, 2012

It is often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Not so, perhaps, when it comes to ancient Hindu temples.

This week, officials in eastern India announced their plan to build a replica of Cambodia's spellbinding 12th-century temple, Angkor Wat, on the banks of the Ganges in the state of Bihar.

A religious group, the Mahavir Mandir Trust, said that when it is completed, the £13 million (NZ$25m) project will not only be a major attraction in its own right, but will be the tallest Hindu temple in the world.

As he laid the foundation stone, Kishore Kunal, the trust's secretary, told local media the temple's name will be Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir.

"The site is blessed as Ram, Lakshman and Vishwamitra were welcomed here on their arrival by King Sumati of the Vaishali kingdom," he added, referring to Hindu deities.

But while people in Bihar may be excited about the project, not everyone is happy.

Officials in Cambodia yesterday said they believed the move was a shameful act that would undermine the value of the country's best-known tourist attraction which has been a World Heritage Site since 1992.

Three million foreign tourists a year visit the Cambodian temple near the town of Siam Reap.

Such is the importance of the site to the largely Buddhist nation, both culturally and in terms of the revenue it generates, that it features on the national flag.

"Angkor Wat is Angkor Wat - it is unique," Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said.

"They are raising this to be confrontational and it is provocative of the World Heritage principle. We won't let anyone confuse the world that there are two Angkor Wats."

The location of the Indian temple, or Angkor Nagar as some are calling it, is about 40km outside Patna.

Indian officials say it will stand 67m high. While the Cambodian temple was built to worship the Hindu god Vishnu, the replica will also invite worship of Shiva and other deities.

Siphan said officials in Phnom Penh would raise its concerns with the Indian Government to try to resolve the matter.

"[The two nations] have good relations and good co-operation, so we are looking for that to solve this issue," he said.

"The tourists who come to visit Angkor Wat are not seeing it simply as a stone building. They come here to see the culture and to learn."

The Indian Angkor will have five storeys and five "shikhars" or pinnacles, like the Cambodian original.

It is estimated that work on the main structure, which will sit on a 16ha site in Vaishali district, will take up to five years, while completing the project could take a decade.

- INDEPENDE
By Andrew Buncombe


For updates from a Cambodian perspective, check out this blog:
http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

The Guardian has some more details. I'll just post the relevant bits:

Angkor Wat temple replica to rise on banks of the Ganges (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/07/angkor-wat-replica-bihar-india?newsfeed=true)
"The Angkor Wat temple in Bihar will be as majestic as the original, and slightly larger – it will be 222ft by 222ft, and its five shikharas [towers] will also be 222ft high," said Kishore Kunal, who runs the Mahavir Mandir temple trust in Patna. "And when it's ready in 10 years time, it will be a functioning temple, employing at least a dozen priests."

The project, Kunal estimates, will cost at least 600m rupees (£7.5m) – half to create the basic structure, the rest for the embellishments, including sculptures of gods and goddesses. The replica, though, will not be ringed by a moat nor have a palace on its campus.

...

Kunal, a 61-year-old retired police officer, has never visited the original temple complex in Cambodia, which moved from Hindu to Buddhist use in the 13th century. He is planning his first visit soon but hopes that thousands of Indians who cannot afford to visit Angkor Wat will be able to experience its grandeur by visiting the replica nearer home.

Under Kunal's management, the Mahavir Mandir temple trust has built three hospitals in Patna, while as head of the state religious trust board, he has restored 12 historical temples in Bihar. The trust will finance half the cost of the replica temple. "Those who know me know I complete my projects," he said.

Kunal conducted the temple's groundbreaking ceremony on Monday. Since the style of the original Angkor Wat was influenced by Dravidian architecture, with its typical storeyed towers, traditional South Indian temple builders are being hired for the project in Bihar. The basic structure will be in concrete clad in granite, since using stone, as in the original, will double the cost and take twice as long to complete. The towers will be fashioned from stone fragments using an ancient technique.

"Someone told me the Cambodians are upset that I'm creating a replica of Angkor Wat," he said. "But why should they? If the Taj Mahal is recreated in the UK, we won't mind. We'll feel happy."

Pic of the groundbreaking and Bhumi Puja:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/3/7/1331136141100/Groundbreaking-ceremony-f-001.jpg

And the view from Cambodia. I tend to agree with them:

Angkor Wat? Cambodia fears replica will hit tourism sector (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10790703)


For updates from a Cambodian perspective, check out this blog:
http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

Hmm, this is what I felt they would feel about this project. But you can't really blame them.

They can replicate taj mahal if they want :lol:

Great news. I never liked the idea of an exact copy. btw, this also confirms it's not cancelled as some articles reported.

Article from last month -

Plans for Indian 'Angkor' Tweaked (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012081057928/National-news/plans-for-indian-angkor-tweaked.html)

A planned replica of Angkor Wat in India, which set off a firestorm of controversy when announced in March, will no longer be a carbon copy of Cambodia’s greatest national treasure, but reports that the project has been cancelled are false, officials said yesterday.

“Mahavir Mandir Trust of Patna, Bihar has not abandoned the construction of the largest Hindu temple in the world,” said Kishore Kunal, secretary of the Hindu NGO. “The news circulated by many agencies and published in many newspapers is misleading and contrary to the correct situation.”

Under pressure from the Indian government, however, the group has altered its building plans. Now, “it is not an exact replica of Angkor Wat temple, but has taken salient features of Angkor Wat and other temples also”, Kunal said via email.

“To respect the sentiments of Cambodian people, we change the name from Virat Angkor Wat Ram Temple to Virat Ramayan Mandir,” he added.

“Since it is going to be the largest temple in the world, and hence larger than even the Angkor Wat temple, it can’t be exact replica of the Angkor Wat temple, which has got only 9 shikhars (spires) against 13 in our main temple and 18 in all.”

Following the project’s announcement, the Indian government listened with concern to Cambodia’s objections to a replica larger than the original Angkor Wat, first secretary at the Indian Embassy in Phnom Penh Saurav Ray said yesterday.

When the Indian government asked Mahavir Mandir not to build the replica, “reason prevailed,” he said, and the project’s promoters “understood the concern and sentiment” of the Cambodian government.

Thai Korak Satya, secretary of state for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said he could not blame the group for wanting to build the temple, but said that “India should build something new that is completely different from Angkor Wat, something that can be famous in its own right in a future era”.

The new temple, to be built in India’s eastern state of Bihar, will be completed in seven or eight years, according to Kunal.

gr8 news...:cheers: