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This is another problem with the selection of monuments - on one side we have the Eiffel Tower and Schloss Neuschwanstein that are a little over 100 years old and on the other - the Pyramids that have existed since millenia. :thumbd:Quote:
Originally Posted by cilu
Yeah... I think the public should not be allowed to decide on "Seven Wonders" on the basis of a popular vote... :rolleyes:
The Great All of China, which in my opinion trully deserves the title of Wonder of the Modern World, won with a very large advantage. The reason is obviously: the more inhabitants a country has, with internet access, the bigger the chances to impose a construction in the top 7. China has the largest population and they managed to overvote the great wall. On the other hand, Egypt is at the oposite. Not necessarily in terms of population, but in internet access.
I think there are as many developers from China working in the US as there are people in Egypt with internet access... :D :rolleyes:
Better would be a "Seventy Seven Wonders" list because now are much many more than 2000 years ago.
That can include Casa Popurului (People's House) from Bucharest which is much more bigger and wonderful than Taj Mahal... :D :D ;)
LOL.. You have not seen the Taj... ;)
(It is a gigantic ~500 year old monument made of pure marble and even the moonlight shimmers off it... )
You have never seen Casa Poporului.
Additionally that's not a tomb, but a place where a lot of politicians are sleeping during the daylight... :D
Yes, it is really majestic, I agree... But, without the lighting, would you see it... ? :D
Whereas, even without the lighting you would see the marble Taj... 'Coz it really reflects and refracts the moonlight... :)
I mean it - I used to have the same opinion as yourself till I went there this January, and since then I believe that it is the most beautiful building in the world -- not for any small reason visited by 3 million tourists per annum.
There are many millions of tourists curious to watch at Mona Lisa dumb smile (as well known, Leonardo had a real problem in painting women smiles :D) and Juliet's balcony in Verona (which is a fake, of course)... and...
Well, I was just joking. Taj Mahal is indeed a marvelous monument.
However here are more info about Casa Poporului.
Hopefully we can find at least 77th place for it. :) ;)
Taj Mahal is more beautiful that the Parliament House in Bucharest, but the Parliament house is bigger than the Taj Mahal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid
More precisely, it's a little bit smaller than Pentagon and a little bit bigger than Great Pyramid of Giza.Quote:
Originally Posted by cilu
It looks at Taj Mahal like to a little baby... :D ;)
Babies are cute... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Ovidiucucu
On size-based parameters, here is an interesting listing -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_building
The Parliament house in Buchasrest is the largest in "mass" i.e. heaviest.
// BTW, the Taj is a lot bigger than what a lot of people think it is. The work on it is so intricate that if you stand below it, you will be able to perceive the caligraphy inscribed over it's entrance as one of the same font-size due to the efforts of artisans - they actually compensated for the height of the monument in the size of the inscribed characters... It is a result of Persian / Iranian islamic architecture and when it was completed it looked so pretty that the Emperor ordered that the artisans lose their hands. :eek:
That's not a unique story. Just take a look at Meşterul Manole.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siddhartha
Additionally, you can find there yet another one Romanian priority in front of the americans which believe they invented everything (including the flying)... :D
That's right... Almost all majestic old structures have a brutal side to them... Even the Colloseum that did make it - most probably the single-handed cause of death and injury to thousands of slaves and animals.
Here is a new wonder unveiled yesterday:
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...70708b_nr.html
(It is big, heavy and it can fly :D)
Amazing:Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid
Dubai will increase its shopping areas with 2 million square meters when the two malls will be finished. Wow!Quote:
Mall Location Size (millions of square feet) Size (square meters)
Dubai Mall Dubai, United Arab Emirates 12.1 1,100,000
Mall of Arabia Dubai, United Arab Emirates 10 900,000
That's a very superficial interpretation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siddhartha
In fact, "Mesterul Manole" like many other similar myths, tells us about the sacrifice some people have to make for an ideal, aside with the rulers' gratitude.
Many contemporary authors were inspired from Mesterul Manole, as for example Orson Scott Card. :)
Well... I said that in context of the Taj and the Colloseum - those were people who were sacrificed, and not of their own free will. It was convenient for the emperors in question to sacrifice them (to feed his ideals?).
Here's the reason why the pyramid is not available for voting,
http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=391&L=0. It has been considered an Honorary Candidate.
That is just an urban myth from ancient days. No ruler who want's to encourage the arts in his country would do things like that to ensure no one creates a duplicate. Furthermore, majority of these artisans were imported from Turkey, Persia, Syria, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan etc. After word of something like that get's out, he practically kills all his chances of being able to do overseas recruitment for his next project.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siddhartha
BTW, much of the calligraphy was by Amanath Khan , Shajahan's own court calligrapher, and there is no record of Amanath Khan having come to a sticky end after the Taj Mahal project.
I would be quite willing to believe that that is an urban myth... Just that the guide I had gave me this piece of information. :eek:
However, I could not substantiate it in Wikipedia... So...
Ah, not everything on wikipedia is 100% correct. There was a case study made on wikipedia and encyclopedia britannica on 50 articles on the same topics, revealed that the former has 3.86 errors per article. Moreover, you can't expect to find in an article, all the information about that topic.Quote:
However, I could not substantiate it in Wikipedia... So...
Here is an interesting blog on the urban myth surrounding the Taj (Sahir was correct).
http://annalysis.blogspot.com/2006/1...maimed-in.html
One reason that makes it easy to believe such stories is the Mughal Dynasty's brutal history... Including one of sons revolting against fathers and intra-family bloodshed. Shahjahan revolted against his father Jehangir who had revolted against his father Akbar. He was in turn arrested by his own son Aurangzeb who took control after killing his siblings and arresting his father. So, when a so-called official tourist guide tells people such stories, it is easy to believe him!
Here are some excerpts taken from the above:
Quote:
Okay, now I've actually looked at Ebba Koch's very fine book at my favourite local bookshop.
The relevant chapter is actually "Everybody's Taj Mahal" and "Myths of the Taj" is a section heading. The full title of her book is, The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra.
The myths (pp. 249-250) she mentions are:
1. A complementary "Black Taj" was also intended to be built.
2. The Taj Mahal was built by an European architect, the Venetian Geronimo Veroneo.
3. Contemporary Western scholars have created other extravagant theories—with a sexist tint, (a) Wayne Begley: Taj Mahal not just a tomb for Mumtaz but was meant to represent the Throne of God (b) Henri Stierlin: Given the inferior position of women in Islam, the Taj Mahal could not have been built for Mumtaz.
4. The Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple.
5. The folklore tales of the maiming/killing of the architects/artisans of the Taj Mahal propagated by tour guides and others. Koch, citing Stith Thompson's classic folklore compilation, gives the following motifs, versions of which are reported from various parts of Europe—Great Britain, Ireland, Russia—and Asia: "King kills architect after completion of great building, so that he may never again build one so great"; "Artisan who has built palace blinded so that he cannot build another like it"; "Masons who build mausoleum of princes lose their right hands so they may never construct so fine a building".
ooo this thread is dedicated to human beings :p :D
but in my opinion one of wonders is the busses our city after rationing the petrol in tehran
http://www.debug.ir/Blogs/ShervinBlog/Images/Bus2.jpg
men in women women in men,thats good for sexual desires :mad: :D