Unveiling the Fifth Dham: The Rise of Indian Pilgrimage Tourism in Cambodia

via Khmer Times, 24 August 2023: The planned “dream pilgrimage” to Angkor Wat by Indian devotees aims to boost Indian tourism to Cambodia, despite previous tensions over a replica Angkor Wat in India and other collaborations like the Fifth Dham and direct flights.

The figures reflected a slow recovery from a disastrous fallout in March 2012, when relationships between Cambodia and India nosedived following an announcement by a Hindu Trust in Bihar that it was building a $20 million replica of Angkor Wat that would become the world’s largest Hindu temple, catering for Hindus who can’t, or didn’t want to, visit Angkor. The replica building was to be called the Virat Angkor Wat Ram Temple.

According to Cambodia media the plan set off a “firestorm of controversy” and after many protests the trust building the temple announced that “under pressure from the Indian government” plans had been altered and the building would no longer be a replica of Angkor Wat. The name would also be changed to Virat Ramayan Mandir.

Source: Indian pilgrims boost Angkor tourism – Khmer Times