Patna, Oct 2 (IANS): The world's largest Hindu temple, with a towering height of 405 feet and a hall with a seating capacity for 20,000, is to be built in Bihar, an official said Wednesday.

The construction of the temple is to start after Durga Puja in Bihar's West Champaran district, said an official of the trust that is undertaking the ambitious project.

The proposed Virat Ramayan Mandir, at Janki Nagar near Kesaria in West Champaran district, about 125 km from here, will stand almost double the height of world-famous 12th century Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia, which is 215 feet high.

The compelx will comprise of 18 temples with high spires, and its Shiv temple would have the largest Shivling in the world, another distinction.

"The construction work will start after Durga Puja this month," Acharya Kishore Kunal, secretary of Patna-based cash-rich Mahavir Mandir Trust, said.

Kunal, a retired IPS officer and the man behind the mega project, said work of earth filling at the 190 acre site is going on since last month.

He said the temple would have a whopping seating capacity of 20,000 in the hall facing the main temple, which will have the idols of Ram, Sita, Luv and Kush.

According to him, no temple in the world has such a huge seating capacity. The temple is to be built at a cost of over Rs.500 crore.

He said earlier the temple was named `Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir' but later its name was changed following objection by some people in Cambodia.

Angkor Wat was built during Hindu king Suryavarman's rule and is today a Unesco World Heritage site.

"The funds for the temple will be donated by devotees, particularly common people across the country," Kunal said.