The Taj Mahal attracts between 2 million and 4 million visitors annually, including more than 200,000 from overseas. A dual- pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens than for foreigners. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor center.

The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen.

The grounds are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons only five items—water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies’ purses—are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.

This year, Taj Mahal celebrates his 40th anniversary as a recording artist.

The singer/guitarist has played every kind of blues, dabbled in jazz and conducted major cross-cultural experiments. He once did an album with a quartet of tubas. He has made children’s records, movie soundtracks, Hawaiian music. He plays solo acoustic or with big band. He recorded with Miles Davis and the Rolling Stones. He was one of the first major artists to cover songs by Bob Marley.

The Taj Mahal Trio will play at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Orpheum Theatre, First and Broadway. Lisa Blake will open.

Born Henry St. Claire Fredericks in Harlem, Taj grew up in Springfield, Mass.

While studying animal husbandry at Amherst College, he played in a local band and changed his name –”Taj Mahal” came to him in a dream. A year after graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, where he put together a band called the Rising Sons (featuring Ry Cooder on guitar). They opened shows at the famous club Whiskey a Go Go for Otis Redding, Sam the Sham and the Temptations.

His 1967 Columbia Records solo debut, “Taj Mahal,” was an instant classic.

“I’ll figure out some way to celebrate this,” he said. “I’ve been a busy man.”

You may call it just modern day affirmation of a historical marvel, but when the magnificent 17th century Taj Mahal in the north Indian city of Agra made it to the New Seven Wonders of the World list it meant something more than mere tokenism for millions all over the country.

After all, the luminescent white marble mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal is not a mere tourist attraction.

The onion domed monument with four minarets, all of which are inlaid with intricate jewelled work, marble filigree and calligraphic inscriptions from the Quran is a manifestation of the best in Indian craftsmanship, architectural traditions and culture.

And when the eight-year campaign by a private body, the New7Wonders Foundation, finally ended in July with the Taj Mahal making it to the final seven on the basis of popular votes – 100 million of them received through SMS, emails and phone calls – there were rapturous cheers all over.

Apart from the Taj Mahal – construction of which started in 1632 and finished in 1648 – the others are the Great Wall of China, Brazil’s Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid, Jordan’s Petra archaeological site and the Colosseum in Rome.

Mushirul Hasan, noted historian and vice chancellor of the Jamia Milia Islamia university in the Indian capital, was elated: “The Taj is a symbol of India’s glorious heritage, of love and unparalleled architecture. We should celebrate the occasion.”

Mughal historian R. Nath added: “Taj Mahal represented undoubtedly the 5,000 years of excellence of Indian creativity in different forms.”

Sushil Sitapuri, a Lucknow-based writer who recently brought out a special volume on the Taj Mahal, told IANS: “The Taj Mahal is a jewel, like Kohinoor. Former US president Bill Clinton said there were two groups of people in the world – one, those who had seen the Taj, and others, those who had not seen the Taj.”

The excitement was palpable. People stayed up all night to catch the news on television as direct pictures beamed in from Lisbon, where Indian star Bipasha Basu joined Hollywood actors Ben Kingsley and Hillary Swank to announce the names.

In Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal, it was festivity time. People took to the streets in their motorcycles and cars while others got busy bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets – so what if it was the dead of night.
Agra’s municipal commissioner Shyam Singh Yadav told IANS: “It is a great psychological boost. I am very happy. Agra will now get wide publicity all over the world and many more people will come to see the Taj Mahal which represents India’s cultural unity.”

Although UNESCO categorically denied its involvement with the contest, it was a matter of pride for the people of Agra.

“Agra-ites voted with full enthusiasm till the last minute,” said Amit Agarwal, an IT professional who himself voted 10 times.

Rakesh Chauhan of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Agra said the results had come at the right time when much was happening in the city and the Commonwealth Games were to be held in New Delhi in three years.

Poulomi Saxena, an advertisement professional in Jaipur, Rajasthan, said that the declaration would certainly bring more foreign tourists to India.

“There was no doubt about the beauty of Taj and its standing as a tourist attraction site. But its place in the new seven wonders list would certainly generate a lot of awareness among people across the globe and attract them
to India.”

But despite the jubilation nationwide, there was one corner that was truly special.

As the results came in in the early hours of July 8, a dingy tenement in West Bengal’s Howrah area lit up. The last of the Mughals, Sultana Begum, the 54-year-old great granddaughter-in-law of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, whooped in sheer joy.

“It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I stayed up till late in the night to watch the telecast of the results from Lisbon,” she said from her 66 sq ft dingy room in a Howrah slum, 10 km from the state capital Kolkata.
Sultana’s husband, late Mirza Mohd Bedar Bukht, was a direct descendant of Bahadur Shah Zafar and crown queen Zeenat Mehal.

“The Taj will always remain among the top draws and it doesn’t require any fresh voting to validate its standing in the world. When some television channels reported that the monument was slipping out of the race, I was sure it would figure in the list prepared by the New7Wonders Foundation,” Sultana Begum told IANS.

While the rest of India celebrated the entry of the Taj Mahal into the ivy league of world wonders, Sultana Begum had only a few family members with her to enjoy the moment.

Her daughter Madhu Begum, granddaughter Roshna Ara and brother Parvant Singh Maihari were basking in the reflected glory of the luminescent white monument built by their forefathers.
As was the rest of the nation, of course.

Taj Mahal is the symbol of eternal love, a visitor may often get lost in the memories of the stories he had heard from his child-hood looking at this structure as well as its image reflected in the pool below. The story is that this beautiful structure was built by one of the most powerful emperor in the history of India for the memory of his queen who passed away in her young age. This romantic story along with the rare and beautiful spectacles visible here all combine in to his mind to form a feeling of surprise, nostalgia and a drop of tear for the beautiful queen who passed away early.

20,000 Men; 16 years!
The Taj is an architectural marvel formed of the fusion between Indian, Persian, Turkish and the Islamic styles. Its construction started on 1632 took 16 long years when it was finally completed in 1648! Such a long period was taken not because of any obstruction in the site, but it was such a massive structure involving a lot of precision works that deserved so much man-day involving the service of 20,000 skilled artisans; a good number of them imported from all over Asia. The ramp intended to transport materials for the dome was two mile long!

Mumtaz Mahal.
Shah Jehan (Shahbuddin Mohammed Shah Jehan (5 -1 1502 to 22 -1 1666) the fifth ruler of the Mughal dynasty) wanted was sheer beauty and top class construction. ‘Makrana marble’ (the glittering white marble mined from Rajasthan) silver, gold and the jewels (mostly imported from Persia and Turkey) all were so lavishly used to decorate floral designs. The construction to take place was no ordinary building it was intended for the memory of his dear wife Arjumand Banu Begum popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz was Shah Jehan’s second wife and she died in child birth.

Symmetry.
The exquisite ‘jalies’ (perforated ornamental designs in wood or stone) and the calligraphy (that adorns the walls with holy verses of Qur’an) lavishly made in perfect symmetry all were all made by human hands; how many man-days would have taken for their work can only be imagined. Skilled workers from as far as Persia were brought in for the work.

Ustad Ahmed Lahauri.
Who was its chief architect is still not confirmed. Gerronimo Verroneo an Italian who was engaged by the Mughals was presumed by some. Yet another opinion (more reliable) is Ustad Istakhan Effendi a Persian architect and his pupil Ustad Ahmed Lahauri were the makers the typical Persian and Islamic style adopted support this view. There are stories doing round that Shah Jehan blinded or dismembered the artisans after the work so that they will not build another structure like this else where!

An integrated complex.
The Taj got listed as ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ in 1983 as a universally admired master piece of world heritage. The domed marble structure often considered as the Taj, but the Taj is actually an integrated complex of many structures covered on three sides by crenellated wall made of red sand-stone. (Some of the structures like mausoleums of Shah Jehan’s other wives located out side the walls are also coming under the Taj complex; of which that of Mumtaz’s favorite maid is the largest). The side facing the Yamuna River is left open.

The sights..
The structures coming under the Taj complex are mainly the following, The Gateway, The outside buildings and tombs, The Taj-Mosque (Masjid) and the Jawab (served the purpose of a guest-house), The Minarets (on the four corners of the plinth), the garden (in design akin to the Mughal Gardens), The Reflecting Pools, The tomb (iwan – a structure with open front and other three sides enclosed), The dome constructed on the top of the tomb, the finial and many exclusive forms of jalies with intricate floral designs, Calligraphy, bas – reliefs and valuable interior decorations.

The tomb.
The focus of Taj Mahal is the white tomb; its elements are all Persian with symmetrical buildings with iwan (large hall with open front – generally with large arch- and other three sides enclosed). The marble dome (in the shape of onion called amrud or guava dome) that rests upon the tomb is the most spectacular view for a visitor who looks the Taj from outside.

Finial
The finial is the crown exactly on the top of the dome which catches the immediate attention of the onlooker (originally it was made of pure gold later replaced by bronze). The moon with its horns facing heavenwards and the central point jointly raises the memory of a trident a Hindu symbol.

The Taj-Masjid and the Jawab.
The Masjid is akin in design to the Delhi Jumas Masjid and is decorated with calligraphy (calligraphy here are a script (thuluth language) designed by Amanat Khan of the palace. The Taj Masjid is floored with black marble and covered with expensive Persian carpets.

The Jawab is basically designed for the sake of symmetry and it served as a visitors hall.

The Minarets
These minarets are examples of the symmetry –the watch-word- in the construction of Taj. They are constructed on the four corners of the plinth, each exactly 40 meters in height consisting of three portions, with two working balconies that ring the tower. They have been constructed in such a distance that even if by any event they fall the tomb will not be effected.

The Cenotaphs.
The cenotaph of Mumtaz is in the center of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base (1.5m * 2.5 m). It is decorated with precious stones and calligraphy praising and identifying her. The cenotaph of Shah Jehan is bigger and placed in slightly elevated floor. The casket is with inscriptions praising god.

Royal Prisoner!
Shah Jehan had a cruel fate as the completion of the building he had been put in to house arrest by his own son in a nearby building and till death he had to live as a virtual prisoner. The only favor the dear father received was that he could the view Taj from his ‘prison’ and that sight of the mausoleum of his wife would have given him some consolation in his confinement. A visitor to Taj is enriched (burdened) with a collage of emotions by the rare sights of Taj complex as well as the stories they had to tell, among them he can cherish the image of an emperor who built all these and had to see them until death as a prisoner.

It can be said that the principles of Vaastu Shastra guided the construction of the Taj Mahal in terms of its location, plans and shape.

With the Taj part of the new Seven Wonders of the World list, let’s take a close look at this monument from the Vaastu viewpoint.

Unbelievable though it may sound, Vaastu dictated the design of the monument right from its location. To the North of the Taj runs the River Yamuna and it flows from the West to East. This is perfect, for Vaastu says that the area North and East of a building should slope northwards and eastwards.

It has been said quite rightly that the Taj Mahal is a blend of Persian and Indian architecture. Though its exterior is Persian, its soul is Indian.

For instance, Vaastu Shastra holds that the width of a building should equal its height. If you use a measuring tape in the Taj, you’ll that its length and width are exactly the same as its height. This couldn’t have happened if the architects who designed the Taj had been unaware of Vaastu .

Looking back at history, it was natural that Vaastu influenced Muslim architecture.

Shah Jahan and Jahangir’s mothers were Hindus, for instance, Shah Jahan’s mother was the daughter of Udai Singh of Marwar in Rajasthan and Jahangir’s mother belonged to the royal family of Amber. Both these regions, Marwar and Amber, were the citadels of Vaastu Shastra . So it’s not surprising that Jahangir and Shah Jahan’s mothers brought Vaastu influences to the Muslim homes they married into.

In the privacy of their chambers, they worshipped Lords Ganesh, Brahma, Surya, Vishnu, and Mahesh, who represent the five forces of nature that Vaastu seeks to harness for human good. The Taj pays homage to these five fundamentals because its four pillars represent Ganesh, Brahma, Surya, Vishnu, and its dome represents Mahesh, the God of space.

Some medieval architecture experts believe that the Taj brought in bad luck to Shah Jahan. They attribute this to the fact that Shah Jahan fell ill and was imprisoned after building the Taj.

I disagree, for what brought Shah Jahan bad luck was not the Taj but a black marble monument he tried to make across the river. But, he was unable to complete this because its location carried a jinx from the Vaastu viewpoint. South of it ran the Yamuna, and the land sloping southwards from a building brings disaster. No wonder the white Taj Mahal is one of the world’s spectacular wonders, while the black Taj ended up haIf-done and buried under the earth.

There is yet another feature that suggests a Vaastu influence on the Taj. And this is the fact that the monument has three shapes – a square, an octagon, and a circle. The floor of the Taj is a square. But the four guest-rooms on its four sides give the same square an eight-sided octagonal shape. The dome on top is a circle. These three shapes represent the Hindu Holy Trinity.

Could there be greater proof of the Vaastu influences which determined the shape of the Taj?

A sand replica of the Taj Mahal created by artist Sudarshan Pattnaik received overwhelming public votes to win the Public Prize in the Berlin International Sand Sculpture Championship.

Pattnaik’s 15-foot sculpture was one of 15 sand monuments created by artists from 10 countries.

“The overwhelming support from lovers of the Taj in Europe enabled me to win the prize,” an elated Pattnaik said on Wednesday from Dortmund in Germany, where he is participating in another sand sculpture festival.

“It is a great honour for my country and I dedicate it to all the Taj lovers worldwide.”

While the sand replica of the 17th century monument of love bagged the public choice award, an entry from Germany won the sculptors’ choice award and Italy bagged the jury’s choice award in the Berlin event.

With the theme of “Paradise”, Pattnaik carved the faces of Mughal emperor Shahjahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal on the sand replica, which was crafted in 56 hours over seven days with tons of sand.

Pattnaik, who has been participating in the Berlin festival for the past four years, will travel to the venue to receive the award on July 29. The sand Taj will also be on display till that date.

A trip to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world..

The Taj Mahal was everywhere— from mobile phones to balloons to people’s faces. Shah Jehan’s baby was crying for votes and every Indian worth his salt obliged, either with a mouse-click or an SMS.

The campaign worked and Shah Jehan would have been mighty pleased if he were alive today! The 17th century monument— built by the Mughal emperor in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal— is sitting pretty on the list of the new seven wonders of the world after a global poll. And ever since the triumph, the erstwhile vote-for-Taj crusaders are chanting Wah Taj!

By the way, did you vote? Many had assumed that the Taj would make it without those messages and mails. A few others also frowned at the publicity ‘gimmicks’ and abstained from the exercise conducted by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group. But if you have been to the marble masterpiece and seen it at least once, you would have definitely voted for it.

It is a sin if you go to Delhi and come back without a drive to Agra. Not every structure in the world has the architectural precision of the Taj. And not every structure was built over two decades with around 20,000 artisans from different parts of the world.

Shah Jehan did all this for Mumtaz who died after childbirth. The Taj houses her tomb. Years later, Shah Jehan’s tomb too was constructed beside it. It is said that the new grave is the only asymmetrical feature of the whole structure.

If you ever plan to visit this wonder, brush up your history lessons beforehand for a better appreciation of the mausoleum. If that is too much hard work, the plaques and literature around Taj Mahal will give you some quick Mughal bytes on who, what, when etc.

Unfortunately, it is foreigners who seem to stop and take these history capsules, while the Indian traveller doesn’t like any “pitstop” before the destination itself. He is interested in only ‘seeing’ the Taj and not ‘knowing’ it.

If you want to make a royal entry, hop on to any of those horsecarts that will take you to the gateway. However, a walk is recommended as the the tongawallah always has the next customer in mind and rushes you in record time.

So walk! Put your best foot forward, and be careful not to step on horse dung that “carpets” the road.

The main gateway is where all the ‘wows’ start. You have seen the Taj a hundred times in books and on TV, still the first glimpse of the real thing is so amazing that your jaw drops big time. The entry point also gives the best photo opportunity, but ‘you and Taj alone’ is an impossible frame. Unlike celebrities who get their pictures taken on the bench with the lovely and lonely Taj, the common man will find a lot of other ‘heads’ coming in between the camera and the man-made marvel. There will be a crowd at any point of time. After all, you are at a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Next comes the Charbagh (the typical Mughal garden divided into four parts). It is believed that the garden boasted daffodils and roses and many fruit trees, but the British who later took over the maintenance of the Taj Mahal converted the landscaping into a typical London lawn style. (No daffodils might be a dampener. But you can make up for it by striking a Bollywood pose in those yellow mustard fields on the Delhi-Agra route.)

The garden leads you to the main structure where you remove your footwear and walk into a dream.

Every inch of Taj Mahal— the dome, the minarets, doorways, arches, the plinth and guldastas— is decorated.

Calligraphy, geometric patterns and motifs make the monument the finest example of Mughal architecture. But that doesn’t deter the average Indian lover from making his/her own ‘mark’ on the marble structure. There are a lot of romantic notes and scratches that dent the beauty of the Taj. Shah Jehan would appreciate it if present-day couples stopped abusing his labour of love to announce their own!

Even after you finish a round of the structure and head for the exit, the coolness of the precious marble lingers on your feet. The Taj definitely deserves a Wah!

A little reminder here. The Taj is not alone on the dream list. Six other wonders— all torchbearers of heritage— are lined up here:
The Great Wall of China was a popular winner. It is the world’s longest man-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km. It is also the largest man-made structure in terms of surface area and mass. There is a claim that the wall is the only work of man visible to the human eye from the moon.

The ancient city of Petra, or the Rose City, in Jordan is an archeological site famous for its stone structures carved into the rock. The site was revealed to the world by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

The 125-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The statue is 39.6 meters tall, weighs 700 tons and is located at the peak of the 700-m Corcovado mountain in Tijuca Forest National Park.

Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. The remains of the city are 2,430m up a mountain slope. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, it got international attention thanks to archaeologist Hiram Bingham, who wrote a best-seller about it.

Mayan Pyramid at Chichen Itza in Mexico. Chichen Itza is a pre-Columbian archeological site built by the Maya civilisation located in present-day Mexico. The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation.

Italy’s Roman Colosseum is the only European building to make the list. Stonehenge, the Acropolis and The Kremlin all lost out. The Colosseum is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of Rome. Capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.

Now, wasn’t that a wonderful list?

A Taj Mahal on the Thames? Tourists stopped to take pictures and bored Londoners, stiffly rushing past Westminster, paused in amusement as a replica of the Taj floated down the Thames on Tuesday morning.

No, it was not the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Board promoting the newest wonder of the world, but the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone trying to market London to Indians! And on hand were a host of Indian celebrities, including (yes, you guessed it!) Shilpa Shetty, to lend a touch of glamour to the launch of a three-month “celebration” of contemporary Indian art and culture.

The Bollywood actor, still basking in the glory of her Big Brother fame, got almost carried away by her role as an “ambassador” for India as she breathlessly waxed lyrical about the “amazing gifts” India had to offer, hailing the festival as something akin to a godsend for Londoners and visitors to London.

Rahul Dravid, captain of the visiting Indian cricket team, on the other hand, quietly took his place and watched the six-metre-high “floating Taj” sail past some of London’s most famous landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul’s and the London Eye before coming to rest at the London Bridge.

“India Now,” as the festival is called, will showcase cinema, theatre, music, fashion, food and business through more than 1,500 events spread across London — home to some 4,30,000 people of Indian origin and a popular destination for the Indian tourist.

The marketing pitch for the festival, billed to attract over one million people, is that it will open a whole new world for Londoners wanting to know more about India.

Launching the festival, Mr. Livingstone described it as an opportunity to experience the “richness of Indian culture” while James Bidwell, Chief Executive of London Unlimited, the international marketing agency for London, called it a bridge with “one of the most powerful emerging countries of the future on cultural, sporting and business levels.”

It appears that a Swiss based organisation – New7Wonders Foundation – had organized this global poll through their website – www.new7wonders.com — in which people could vote for their favourite monument either on-line or by phone or through text messages (SMS). The Foundation was created in 2001 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, ‘with a mission to protect humankind’s heritage across the globe’, as stated in their website. What is their locus standi to conduct such a poll? And why did people the world over get so worked up on such a non-issue?

These questions remained unanswered till date. While some hint can be gathered from another line in the Foundation’s website which states – ‘All New7Wonders voters are Members. In order to register your vote, you must provide us with several required details’. It is thus obvious this organisation has managed a massive database of e-mail addresses, landline phone numbers and mobile phone numbers. There could be some marketing organisation behind this or I suspect it is the work of a consortium of mobile phone operators who have made money on getting millions and millions of SMSs sent/exchanged during this entire exercise. In India, at least, it is very common practice to induce people to send SMSs, for the slightest of reasons, all adding up to massive revenues for these service providers. Virtually every programme on TV and FM radio in India is requesting for SMS responses for one reason or the other.

When I was young, and that was many many moons ago, we read in books on General Knowledge about the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and the Seven Wonders of the World. That was it. We never questioned who voted them in or who set up any Foundation to select them. The Seven Ancient wonders included: The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in then Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and areas around), the Temple of Zeus in Greece, the Colossus of Rhodes on the Island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, the temple of Artemis in Greece and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in ancient Greece. All these wonders were those that were built between 3000 BC and 5th Century AD.

We also had a list of the Seven Wonders of the World and without any question, the Taj Mahal found a place in that list. Always counted among the man-made marvels of the world, the Taj Mahal has refound pride of place in a new list of seven wonders virtually ‘elected’ to that position by people around the globe.

There is no doubt that the Taj, as the Taj Mahal is normally referred to, is the most photographed and thus the most visible monument in the world. In the list of seven wonders that were announced by the New7Wonders Foundation at a gala ceremony held in Lisbon, to coincide with the date 07.07.07, Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu did the honours. In this list of Seven Wonders announced are included the Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico and the Roman Colosseum.

While there has been huge media hype surrounding the campaign launched in 2000, it has also drawn criticism. UNESCO disassociated itself with the campaign when it reaffirmed that it has no link with the initiative, which it says would reflect — “only the opinions of those with access to the internet”. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 when it was described as a “universally admired masterpiece of the world’s heritage.”

After the launch of the voting campaign in 2000, the nominations were whittled down by public votes to 77 in 2006. This was further shortened to a list of 21 by a panel of architectural experts chaired by former UNESCO Chief FM Zaragoza. These twenty-one finalists were announced on 1 Jan 2006. Some in Egypt saw it as competition to the status of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving monument of the original Ancient Wonders. Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said the project was “absurd” and described its creator, Weber, as a man “concerned primarily with self-promotion”. Nagib Amin, an Egyptian expert on World Heritage Sites, has pointed out that “in addition to the commercial aspect, the vote has no scientific basis.”

After complaints from Egypt, the Pyramid was given special status and removed from the voting list. A look at the website of the organisers of this campaign, states – ‘The New7Wonders Foundation designates the Pyramids of Giza — the only one remaining of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World — as an Honorary New7Wonders candidate, and removed it from the voting’. We thus have the odd situation of having an additional Wonder in an honoray capacity! Amongst the criticism levied, some have alleged that this campaign is strongly influenced by patriotism, especially since they allowed voting through internet and SMSs. Some countries have also given special incentives to voters so that the nominated Wonder from their countries could win. Nominees such as the Easter Island’s Moai statues and Angkor Wat were at the top of the rankings until eventually the choice was influenced by those with high mobile penetration or internet access.

Yet, some refute this ‘patriotism argument’ with the fact that while voting on the official website one had to vote for seven nominees and not only one, thus favoring the election of Wonders of real worldwide importance and meaning. Interestingly enough the website of the Foundation does not make any mention of its legal or other status. It simply asks you to vote as per your choice. Nor is there any apparent independent auditing to verify the accuracy of its poll results. In fact it has no known voter base or qualifications for voting nor is there any means of checking the number of times any one individual has voted by SMS.

To explain away these and other anomolies in the process the Foundation issued a Press Release, which, in parts, reads – ‘There is no comparison between Mr Weber’s mediatised campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The list of the 7 New Wonders of the World will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the internet and not the entire world. This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public.’

There is a very interesting side to this poll just concluded. It shows up the telecom revolution that India has gone through. Imagine the roughly 165 million mobile phones in use in India doubling up as voting machines! India’s youthful millions, aided by technology, voted favourably and thus effectively prevented the Taj from being eased out. In fact, there was clear danger of such a situation occuring, when global polling first began to decide the new Wonders when Indians were horified to discover that the Taj was languishing in the list at a low twenty first position.

This led to considerable panic since every one believed there could not be any threat to the Taj’s pre-eminent position. Following early alarming reports of a very sluggish start, a campaign to save the monument began in June with a Mumbai based marketing agency taking up the cause. Indian print and electronic media soon swung into action, running slick national campaigns urging viewers to vote for the Taj through SMS.

By all standards the campaign was a runaway success. Mughul Emperor Shah Jehan’s 16th century monument to love has been redeemed by 21st century technology!

Ghulam Ali and Bipasha Basu share their joy on Taj Mahal making it to the list.
Euphoria over the Taj Mahal making to the list of the new Seven Wonders of the World, was not just restricted to Indians. Pakistani ghazal maestro Ustad Ghulam Ali, at a concert in Mumbai, joined in the chorus of proud congratulatory messages to the Indian monument built by Emperor Shah Jehan for his wife, Mumtaz.

The ustad, who last week was reluctant to react to Hyderabad Times request for a comment on the Taj (his spokesperson said he can speak about music , but not the Taj, as it would become a political statement ), dedicated one of his famous ghazals to the monument. It was his ode to love and an architectural marvel.

Meanwhile, nothing could deter Bollywood’s Bipasha Basu to host the Seven Wonders Of the World event at Lisbon. Though down with cold and flu, an excited Basu, who announced the name of the Taj Mahal, says “I was a proud Indian on stage at Lisbon. There were 60,000 people there but I was not even the least nervous. I had an attack of the nerves for about a minute but that was that,”she said.