Family spends 153 days creating world's largest handwritten Bible

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A United Arab Emirates family said they spent 153 days attempting a Guinness World Record for the world's largest handwritten Bible.

Manoj Varghese, his wife, Susan, and their children, Karun and Krupa, took turns copying the entire holy book onto A1-sized paper and Varghese said it took a total of about 153 days to finish the more than 1,500-page tome.

"I would spend 12 to 15 hours every day meticulously writing out the Bible. My eyes would twitch and my hands would hurt, but in the process I found the Bible speaking to me, inspiring and guiding me," Susan Varghese, who handled 66 books of the Bible herself, told Gulf News.

The family said the book was examined by a surveyor and a graphologist as part of the requirements set forth by Guinness. The family also took video record of the writing process for the record-keeping group.

The completed Bible is set to go on display at the Mar Thoma Church in Jebel Ali.

An Indian man, Sunil Joseph, previously attempted the record for the world's largest handwritten Bible in 2005. Joseph's Bible weighed in at 135 pounds and took him 123 days to write.