Guinness World Records has recognised a sprawling mock-ancient monument in the Indian capital as the world's largest Hindu temple, the Press Trust of India reported Wednesday. The ersatz Akshardham temple, which covers 32 acres (13 hectares) and is built to look as if is hundreds of years old, was inaugurated in 2005.
"The majestic, ornately hand-carved Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi stands apart as the largest Hindu temple in the world," a Guinness certificate given to the temple organising committee said, according to Press Trust. Some 11,000 people built the temple over five years, an earlier Guinness statement said.