Agra, Oct 23: The reported move to build a Taj Mahal in Dubai has not gone down well here with people who think it amounts to desecrating a renowned tourist draw and a spiritual monument.
The proposed Taj will be about four times the size of the original monument. To be ready by 2014, it will be set in the heart of the 41 million square foot Falcon city of wonders on Emirates Road. It will be a five star hotel with 300 rooms.
People in Agra, about 200 km south of New Delhi, are not amused. They are angry that someone is trying to copy the original, a 17th century marble monument built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife.
"At best it can only be a caricature of the original. From where will they bring the romantic tales, the river Yamuna and the ambience of Agra?" asks Rakesh Sharma, president of the All India Brahmin Mahasabha.
The Taj, Agra residents hold, belongs to Agra and India.
"At least they should pay a royalty to the Taj city for using its brand name," tourism industry leader Abhinav Jain told IANS.
According to Jain, the Taj Mahal is a special monument, unlike a palace or castle or even the Eifel Tower.
Taj Arabia will celebrate the union of couples by serving as the world's grandest wedding destination, according to a report in the Gulf News.
Former Agra legislator Satish Chandra Gupta is livid.
"It is patently wrong and absurd," Gupta told IANS. "This kind of distortion and in principle duplication of history artificially makes no sense.
"You cannot re-create history. Agra must get its share in terms of royalty from anyone using the brand Taj Mahal."
Gupta said the original design of the Taj was given by a Sufi saint.
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