India: Muslim family donates land worth Rs25 million for construction of world’s largest temple

Patna: A Muslim family in Bihar has donated land worth Rs2.5 crore (Rs25 million) for the construction of the world’s largest and tallest ‘Virat Ramayan Mandir’ in the Kaithwalia area of East Champaran district.

Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, a businessman, has donated the land for the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’.

“Majority of land (in the village) is owned by our family. I think it is my responsibility to do something for the construction of the temple. This is a tradition of our family,” said Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan.

Khan along with his family members donated 23 katha (71 decimals) of land to the temple on Wednesday at the registrar’s office of the Kesharia sub-division, East Champaran.

According to the prevailing market prices, the value of the land is pegged at more than Rs2.5 crore.

Talking to reporters, Acharya Kishore Kunal, chief of the Patna-based ‘Mahavir Mandir Trust’, which will build the ‘Virat Ramayan Mandir’, said that Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khan, who has donated the land, is a businessman from East Champaran, who has business activities in Guwahati.

“In the past also, Khan and his family have been open to the idea of extending help for the temple project. Khan also gave land on the main road at a subsidised rate. Inspired by him, others in the village also started giving land. So far, 100-acre land has been acquired for the Virat Ramayan Mandir,” said Kishore Kunal.

Great example of social harmony

He said that Khan and his family are a great example of social harmony. “Without the help of Muslims, it would have been difficult to realise this dream project,” he added.

He further said that a huge Ramayana Temple will be built on a total of 125 acres of land, one of the tallest and largest temples in the world.

“The structural design of the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’ will be such that it will be durable for more than 250 years. For the construction of the temple, the services of technical experts and skilled craftsmen engaged in the construction of the new Parliament House are being taken,” he said.

Kunal said that the trust will soon take advice from the experts engaged in the construction of the new Parliament building in New Delhi.

He said that the height of the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’ will be 270 feet, which is the highest in the world while its length is 1,080 feet and width is 540 feet. “There will be a road on three sides of the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’ complex. The Ram-Janaki road being built from Ayodhya to Janakpur will pass through the area. Saffron Buddhist Stupa is also located on this route,” he added.

Acharya Kunal said that the temple is coming up on the banks of river Devaki, where Lord Ram is believed to have stayed overnight while returning from Janakpur to Ayodhya.

Pashupatinath temple in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu is the largest in the world.