A full-scale replica of Cambodia’s legendary world heritage site Angkor Wat is to be built on the banks of the Ganges in India.

It will become a fully functioning Hindu temple - just like the original when it was built in the 12th century before it became Buddhist.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the 10-year project was performed earlier this month by Kishore Kunal, the 61-year-old retired policeman who is driving the project.

The head of the Mahavir Mandir temple trust in Patna, north-east India, wants Indian Hindus to be able to experience their religion’s grandest temple. A trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia, some 3,000 miles from Delhi, is beyond the reach of most.

He said the Virat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir - to give it its full title - will be 222ft by 222ft and 222ft tall at its highest point.

“It will be as majestic as the original and slightly larger,” he told the Guardian. “Those who know me know I complete my projects.”

His trust will finance half the estimated ￡7.5 million cost of the temple which will be built from concrete clad in granite to keep the price tag down.

The five towers, known as shikaras, will be crafted from fragments of stone using a traditional technique.