Trahi Achyuta ashram, the swanky aboard of self-styled Odisha godman Sura Baba, is valued at a whopping Rs 20.66 crore according to the estimations of Odisha Crime Branch (CB) police.
The ashram that rivals amusement parks in terms of facilities contains a temple, a large pond with boating services and a toy train to help visitors move around its acreage.
The enormity of the ashram is such that the CB had to engage experts from various agencies like state archaeology department, endowment and works departments to assess its actual value.
The godman told CB sleuths during interrogation that he spent only Rs 4 crore to set up the ashram that has several branches of its temple.
While CB sources estimate the main temple to be about Rs 8 crore, it said the godman had spent Rs 46 crore to engage a company from outside the state to install the toy train.
Sura Baba, AKA Surendra Mishra, said to have informed CB that he introduced the toy train to pass the place of as a tourist centre.
Tourist spots
Predictably, Odisha’s cultural and tourism department had included Trahi Achyuta ashram among its list of tourist spots in 2009.
However, it was hurriedly deleted references to the ashram following Mishra’s arrest.
The CB has also tracked down as many as 91 acres of land owned by Mishra, his ashram and his two sons who were also arrested.