Wah Taj!!!

Today on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year '07, they declared the new 7 wonders of the world. And the list is:

1. Chichen Itza (Mexico)

2. Christ, The Redeemer (Brazil)

3. Machu Picchu (Peru)

4. Petra (Jordan)

5. The Colosseum (Italy)

6. The Great Wall (China)

7. The Taj Mahal (India)

The selection was based on a popular vote. Even I voted - And being an Indian I obviously voted for The Taj Mahal despite the fact that I have not been to Agra. (But now I hope to visit Agra soon.)

I had put the topic and information about the voting on my school's community on Orkut. A couple of opinions were written which opposed the vote for The Taj. The reasons were as follows:

1. It reminded us of the Moghul invasion.

2. The Taj was built on a Shiva temple.

I would like to voice my opinion about the two reasons today.

Reason 1: "It reminds us of the Moghul invasion."

First of all I seriously doubt the intensity of the reason expressed by this guy. Nevertheless the reason just demonstrates the close mindedness. By this mode of logic all the monuments which have been built by those who attacked and/or ruled India should be hated. Also the systems which they brought in and which have had a positive effect on India should also be disliked. Now the funny part is that the guy asked to vote for Angkor temple (Combodia) conveniently forgetting that perhaps his ancestors might have attacked Combodia destroyed the local beliefs existing at that time and set up new belief system and then built Angkor temple in Combodia. This cycle of attacks and establishment of new system has been a part of the world history.

My point is simple and clear. Now we live in a free country and all these monuments are treasures of our past and should be preserved so that the next generations can see these monuments. They will remind us of the invaders and force us to learn some lessons from our past mistakes. So we should not loose the great opportunity of preserving them and use these very monuments to make some money. This is what I have observed in the west. The Americans or the Canadians have a history of few hundred years and yet they preserve it with pride. Why cannot we ?

(I just hope and pray (literally) that this new declaration will help Agra develop its infrastructure.)

2. "The Taj was built on Shiva temple"

This may be or may not be true. I am not aware of the fact but I doubt if Shiva temple (if it at all existed) would be as popular as the Taj. We should seriously get over this fanaticism and move ahead and make money using The Taj. Period.