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| Will Taj Mahal be in world's wonder list? | | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, May 31
Taj Mahal at Agra in UP is India's spectacularly gorgeous while marble mausoleum. Will it find a place on the list of the new Seven Wonders of the World? It is generally felt that it may not. This could be because Indians are not caring muc h about the monujment making it to the world's list of Seven Wonders.
When the result of the contest for the Seven Wonders is out July 7 at Lisbon, Portugal, many may shockingly find Taj Mahal's name missing. Taj needs at least 300 million votes on http://www.new7wonders.com to make it to the list. However, so far, this "monument of eternal love" has got just 0.7 per cent votes, while Peru's Incan sanctuary Machu Pichu tops the list with 25.5 per cent votes. Taj stands a poor 14th, and would probably need a frantic support from no less than 300 million Indians to make it to the list of Seven Wonders.
So, what is the big deal? Can't India, a country of a billion-plus population at home, and millions abroad, vote for Taj? The answer is easy. Not many are voting, or rather, are not keen to choose their own heritage to be a part of the Seven Wonders list. Even the Union Tourism Ministry currently being headed by Ambika Soni has no campaign planned in support of this. UNESCO feels if Taj Mahal fails to get a place on the list, it could change the way the world looks at India's heritage, especially the monument that has been in the news for all wrong reasons lately.
The government has failed to check Taj Mahal's rapidly changing colour from pearl white to cloudy yellow. Air contamination and greenhouse gasses in and adjoining the monument at Agra is slowly killing the marble mausoleum that has left countless ardent lovers from around the world spellbound. Also, even after three years, there has been no pronouncement on the multi-million Taj Corridor scam showing how much the government cares for its heritage. The apathetic attitude of both the Union and Uttar Pradesh governments have resulted in the monument being reduced to a feeble tourist destination already.
As per tourism figures, the number of domestic tourists visiting the Taj have dropped by over 15 per cent lately. Foreign tourists do visit Taj with great expectations, but return with bitter memories of being cheated by touts or being manhandled by tour operators. If people are not voting for the Taj, then it could be because of their sheer lack of care, feels renowned music composer AR Rahman. He has composed an "anthem" to inspire Indians to vote for the Taj. "I want Taj Mahal to get its due place. This anthem will make Indians feel motivated, and encourage them to vote," he says.
The worldwide movement to vote for the new Seven Wonders of the world began in 2001 after the New7 Wonders Foundation (N7W), a privately funded organisation from Zurich in Switzerland, decided to protect humankind's heritage across the globe. The N7W chose 21 entities from the top 77 nominees that had earned the most votes. Even then it was not easy for Taj Mahal to get short-listed as one of the 21. The problems have been numerous. Though India has the numbers, internet penetration and awareness about the campaign is low. When the list of 21 was drawn, Taj ranked 20th. It had received only 1.6 per cent of the total votes then.
This time, unfortunately, it is even worse. Taj Mahal has secured just 0.7 per cent votes whereas the Easter Island Statue in Chile has 16.6 per cent votes, Chichen Itza in Mexico has 11.2 per cent votes, the Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil has 10.3 per cent votes, Petra in Jordan has 5.3 per cent votes, the Alhambra in Spain has 4.6 per cent votes, the Great Wall of China has 3.9 per cent votes, and the Statue of Liberty has 3.0 per cent votes.
Others like Japan's Kiyomizu Temple, the Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower in Paris and the City of Timbuktu in Mali are also on the list. With the Pyramid of Giza permanently on the list of seven, there are just six slots to be filled. And with 34 days remaining, and going by the voting trends so far, Taj Mahal could well be out of the elite list.
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