The Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just filed a complaint about the replica of Angkor Wat in Bihar in India. The India’s government was asked to interfere in and put a stop to the project.
As published by the Phnom Penh Post, a letter has been sent to the India’s Ministry of External Affairs in Saturday calling on India to make action to preserve the diplomatic relations between the two nations.
The letter also stated that the image of Angkor Wat had long been the distinctive feature of Cambodia for centuries and it even appeared on the national flag of the country.
These were announced right after the a report about the construction of Viraat Ramayan Mandir, an enormous Hindu temple complex which looks exactly the same as Angkor Wat, a famous tourist attraction in Cambodia.
Mr. Thai Norak Satya, the spokesman for the Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts Secretary of State, showed his concern about the bad commercial results that Cambodia had to face. He thought that tourists with no money would visit the copy instead of the real one but he still believed that people would still find the real Angkor Wat more interesting.
However, Mr. Kishore Kunal, the head of the Mahavir Mandir Trust, the company in charge of the copy’s construction told the Post that there was no copy of the World Heritage (Angkor Wat) at all, emphasizing that the famous sacred site was just an inspiration for the new Hindu temple. He added that the company also took the inspiration from other temple in India.
The head also stated that he had asked Cambodia to send architects to India and decide if it is a replica or not. If the construction is completed, the new temple will sure to be the World biggest religious monument.
He said that there was currently no law against the replication of the World Heritage. He gave the example of Bangladesh constructing a copy of India’s icon Taj Mahal, which meets no objection.
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