Construction of the ‘world’s largest Ramayan temple’, spread over 3.76 lakh sq.ft., is underway in Bihar’s East Champaran district. Started in June 2023, the three-storey Viraat Ramayan Temple will be completed by 2025 at a cost of ₹500 crore. It will be taller than Cambodia’s 12th century Angkor Wat temple complex.
The monument will have 12 domes, the highest being 270 feet; there will also be 22 sanctum sanctorums for different deities. It will have a 33-foot -tall black granite shivling weighing 200 tonnes, being crafted in Mahabalipuram near Chennai. According to the Mahavir Mandir Temple Trust secretary Acharya Kishore Kunal, the shivling is the world’s largest and will be established in 2025. The temple can seat 20,000 people. The architecture is inspired by Angkor Wat, the Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and the Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple in Madurai.
