Bhumi puja held for world's largest temple in Bihar

The bhumi puja was performed by five priests from Varanasi and three others from Patna at the project site to seek the blessings of the almighty for successful completion of the grand Rs 200-crore project, he said.

The Ram temple was being built at a specific site where the legend has it that the Lord Rama and his wife Janaki had arrived here after their marriage on way to Ayodhya from Janakpur, Kunal said.

He said that the architectural designs of the temple has been drawn from the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia and Rameshwaram and Madurai temples in Tamil Nadu.

The proposed temple will have 18 shikhars (spires) that will replicate ones of the Angkor Wat temple and 18 sanctum sanctorums, the MMT Secretary said, adding that six of these spires had been taken from the South Indian temples.

The temple will have five layers instead of floods and the entire temple area will cover 2800 feet length and 1500 feet in width even as the main temple will be 1240 feet long, 1150 feet wide and 270 feet in height, he said.

The main sanctum sanctorum would have idols of Lord Ram, Sita, Lava-Kush and Maharshi Valmiki, he said, adding the sacred sanctorum will be built with stones from Chunar in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The construction of the temple will be completed in about 7-8 years as per designs prepared by the renowned architect Piyush Sompura of Ahmedabad, Kumar said.

The construction cost will be around Rs 300 crore and the required funds will be mobilized through contributions by the devotees and well-wishers of the project in the country and across the world, he said.

The world's largest temple will be know as 'Viraat Ramayan Temple', Kunal said.