Bihar: Muslim businessman donates land worth Rs 2.4 crore for construction of ‘world’s biggest’ Ramayan temple in East Champaran

A Muslim businessman in Bihar has donated 71 decimal land worth around Rs 2.4 crore to the Mahavir Mandir Trust for the contruction of a grand Ram temple in East Champaran. The petroleum transporter handed over the land’s document to the temple trust on Tuesday. The Virat Ramayana Temple is being developed on 125-acre land near Kesaria in East Champaran district at a cost of Rs 500 crore. It will be the biggest Ramayana temple in the world.

The individual, identified as Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, has over 30 acres of land in East Champaran, reported The Indian Express. Khan said that he decided to donate land for the temple after coming to know that the trust was facing issues with land acquisition. He told the IE that since the temple project falls near his land, he decided to donate land in order to help the trust mitigate the high cost.

Khan’s relatives had sold 7 acres of land to the temple trust at a price cheaper than the market rate. The trust needs at least 123 acres of land and has so far acquired 103 acres. The temple project is most likely to be completed by January 2025. The temple will reportedly house a single-piece granite Shivalingam which is being carved out at Mahabalipuram. It will be 33 feet high with a circumference of 33 feet.

Mahavir Mandir Trust secretary and former IPS officer Kishore Kunal expressed his gratitude to Khan saying that the circle rate of the land at present is Rs 4 lakh per katha (2,040 square feet). Kunal also appreciated other Muslim families who sold land to the trust at Rs 25,000 to Rs 60,000 per katha.

He said that the central government has been offering a compensation of Rs 16 lakh per katha for the land as the proposed Ram-Janaki Path from Ayodhya to Janakpur is crossing through the Virat Ramayana Temple site. Thus, Khan would have got Rs 2.4 crore for the land he donated for the temple. Kunal also informed that Hindu families have donated about 15 acres of land for the temple.

The temple is modelled on the Rameshwaram theme and will be 270-foot high, 540-foot wide and 1,080-foot long. It will have a 33-feet tall idol of Lord Rama worshipping Lord Shiva. In all, there will be 14 temples and four ashrams depicting the journey of Lord Rama.