India starts to build Angkor Wat replica
A Hindu trust in India on Monday started a 10-year project to build a replica of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple on the banks of the Ganges.
Thursday 15 March 2012, 03:34PM
A foundation-laying ceremony was held at the 16-hectare site in the eastern state of Bihar where the trust plans to recreate the temple’s huge structure and elaborate stone carvings.
Organisers say they intend the new building to be the tallest Hindu temple in the world.
The UNESCO-listed site in Cambodia contains the remains of various capitals from the Khmer empire and is a major international tourist destination.
The main temple was first dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu when it was built in the 12th century before later being used for Buddhist worship.
“It will be a replica of Angkor Wat but the temple will be slightly taller than the original,” Kishore Kunal, secretary of the Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust said.
Kunal said the plan was to “recreate Angkor Wat’s grandeur and splendour” near the town of Hajipur.
