The Hindu : New Delhi News : People hail laurel for Taj Mahal

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Monday, Jul 09, 2007
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New Delhi

People hail laurel for Taj Mahal

Staff Reporter

Would give a new impetus to tourism

Taj deserves to be on the list
International airport at Agra sought

NEW DELHI: Months of frenzied online and SMS voting finally paid off as the Taj Mahal was inducted into the new “Seven Wonders of the World” at a ceremony at Lisbon in Portugal.

The Taj Mahal accompanies six other architectural marvels, including the Great Wall of China and the Colloseum in Rome, as victors in the voting contest conducted by the Swiss company, New Open World Corporation. This novel laurel for the monument spurred positive comments from several quarters in the Capital.

Professor of Urban Design and Dean of School of Planning and Architecture, K. T. Ravindran, said the Taj was one of the most beautiful structures in the world. “The Taj is wholesome and evocative and I totally support its entry into the Seven Wonders list.”

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry president, Venugopal Dhoot, said this would result in increased tourist inflow from all parts of the world and the Taj should have been inducted years ago. “This will give a new impetus to the tourism industry in the country,” he added.

“I was not surprised at all by the announcement,” said popular radio jockey Nitin Brady. “The Taj deserves to be on the list. I actually woke up at 3 a.m. to watch the ceremony live. It is time for the Government to make an effort to clean up the area around the mausoleum because the site is set to become a major tourist destination.”

Similar sentiments were voiced by Puru Govind, a software engineer working in the Capital.

“I am happy because I was one of the first ones to vote for the Taj almost a year ago. I am proud that an Indian monument is being lauded internationally,” he said.

In a statement last month the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had said it had no link with the New Wonders enterprise and called it a “media campaign”, adding that the initiative could not contribute to the preservation of heritage sites in any sustainable manner.

Former Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India C. Babu Rajeev said he was “happy” it has happened. ``After all, international recognition is most welcome. This will help put pressure on the authorities to perform better maintenance work on the heritage site,” he added.

A.G. K. Menon, the Delhi Chapter Convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), said he was overjoyed at the result, adding that there had never been any doubt in his mind regarding the beauty of the Taj. Calling the voting procedure a “publicity stunt”, he said it often took foreign accolades for Indians to realise the worth of what they already had.

Mr. Menon said, “the Taj has always been the most visited and most popular Indian tourist destination. People abroad consider the monument synonymous with India.”

However, he warned that the expected tourist increase may exceed the “sustainable number” of visitors that a site could handle.

In a statement, Taj Conservation Committee president Ajai Agarwal expressed happiness at the honour and demanded the setting up of an international airport at Agra.

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