Where once the Buddha stayed

Evocatively named Kesaria is a small town in Bihar's east Champaran district, some 150 km from state capital Patna that is famous for a very large stupa where the Buddha is said to have spent his last days. In another five-10 years, however, Kesaria may well come to be better known for being the site of the Viraat Ramayan Mandir, the 'world's largest Hindu temple' coming up nearby on a 165-acre plot.

The Viraat Ramayan Mandir is an initiative of Shri Mahavir Nyas Sthan Samiti, a trust which manages, among others, Patna's popular Mahavir Mandir and is run by a high-profile committee comprising former judges of the high and Supreme Courts, top bureaucrats, and even a chief minister and vice-chancellor.

"We have an estimate of Rs 500 crore for the cost of building the temple, which will be funded from our temple earnings and donations. We have a plan to sell coupons in specific donations — Rs 5,707, Rs 7,707 and so on, because the Licchavi kings who ruled these parts in ancient times loved these numbers — to raise money from the religious-mind public," says Kishore Kunal, retired IPS officer and secretary of the Trust who is the prime mover behind the ambitious project.

"This is not just a religious project, it is a cultural one where we would like to showcase the spread of Hinduism and Hindu architecture in southeast Asia," adds Kunal. So all the 18 temples draws inspiration from famous temples across the region — the shore temples in Mahabalipuram, the 9th century Sonagiri Jain temples, Orissa's Konark and Jagannath temples, Kantanagar temple in Bangladesh, the temples in Ayutthaya, Thailand, the Pantaram temple in Central Java and, most importantly, Angkor Wat in Cam bodia. In fact, the temple was, when plans were first mooted in 2013, to have been called the Viraat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir. In terms of architecture, too, there are glaring similarities — both are square-shaped and enclosed by walls with a series of concentric squares with temples at each corner. There's also the same 'temple mountain' plan, each inner level set on a higher platform that the outer, with the central highest platform having the biggest structures. Even the number of temples at this highest level, 72 feet (six-seven stories) in the case of the Ramayana Mandir, is the same as in Angkor Wat - five.

No wonder then that the Cambodian government had requested the Indian government last year that the plans to build the temple be abandoned. "We clarified to them that ours was not a replica. Angkor Wat itself has been influenced by temples in south India. Our influences are Mahabalipuram, the Mahavir Mandir and the Amawa Ram Temple in Ayodhya built by our Trust," says Kunal. The issue seems to have been resolved because Kunal says L&T, the company which will construct the Mandir, will start work by January 15.

Already, work is under way on a giant Shiv Linga — 33 feet in circumference and 44 feet in height - in the stone sculptors' studios in Mahabalipuram. "In two years, we are hoping the Shiv temple will be ready. The main Ram temple will however take another five-ten years," says Kunal.