Bhopal, May. 3 : A 180-years-old temple located in Madhya Pradesh has become the first ever place of worship to receive the International Standard Organization certificate for effective maintenance and management.

Built in 1830, Sri Ram Mandir boasts of well-maintained exquisite idols and provides the perfect ambience for the devotees in meditation and offering prayers.

The ISO 9001:2008 certification was endorsed by Orion Registrar Inc, Arvada, Colorado, USA after its auditors based in India conducted an in-depth survey of the temple.

"We had requested the International Standard Organisation to give us an ISO certificate. So the team of ISO experts and assessors came here to have a look at the temple. They found that the temple fulfiled all the pre-requisite parameters," said Vishwamitra Sharma, President of Sri Ram Mandir Trust.

The temple is spacious enough to accommodate two thousand devotees at a time. The idols are decorated in detail before the routine rituals and prayers.

"You can see that this temple has been well built. Its management, its cleanliness are upto the mark. The idols are of very good quality. These idols are from Jaipur. They are sober and look life like making the devotees feel the presence of God," said Satyendra Jain, Certifying Auditor for Orion Registrar Inc, USA.

Now the management plans to start a library that will be open to public sans any charges, an Ayurvedic clinic and a guesthouse for visitors from outstation and a cultural school in the premises of the temple. (ANI)