Essay No. 01

The New Seven Wonders of the World

History gives sanctity to only one list of seven wonders the one compiled in 200 BC by the Greek mathematics Philon of Byzantium. The monuments that featured in the ancient list were the Colossus of Rhodes the pharos at Alexandria, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. The Taj Mahal does not figure in it because obviously it did not exist then,

The tradition of Seven Wonders has inspired succeeding generations to compile countless lists sice the Alexandrian era. The Seven Wonders of the Middle ages were the Colosseum of Rome the Catacombs of Alexzandria the Great Wall of CHina, the Stonehenge the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, China, the leaning Tower of Pisa , Italy, and the Hagia Sopia of Constantinople.

The new seven wonders project kicked off in 2001 by the swiss adventure Bernard Weber, rectifies a problem with the old list. Actually the Greek writers were limited by their borders and could not have seen what else was going on around the world.

Later there was global movement to choose the new seven wonders of the world by structured international polling. It was initiated by the swiss entrepreneur Bernard Weber. The polling was open to all prince or pauper across the world. The campaign made it mandatory that the structures must be manmade and be in sufficient state of preservation.

The new seven wonders of the world were announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon,Portugal after a much hyped worldwide poll. The Taj Mahal was named at the top position in a new list of Seven Wonders of the World. The other six who made it were the pyramid at Chichen Itza of Mexico, the Christ the Redeemer of Brazil the Roman Colossseum of Italy the great wall of china the Machu Picchu of Peru and the pink ruins of Petra in Jordan.

The Taj Mahal was built in 1630 A.D in Agra, India. This immense and exclusive mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal. The Taj Mahal is considered to the most perfect jewel of the Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world heritage.

The Pyramid at Chechen Itza, Mexico was built before 800 A.D Mexico Chechen Itza the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic centre of the Mayan civilization. This archeological site covers an area of approximately six square miles. The ruis are divided into two parts one part was built between 10th and 13th centuries A.D.

The Christ the Redeemer was built in Brazil in 1931. This statue of jesus stands some 38 mt. tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking the Rio de Janeiro, designed by the Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa. It was created by the French sculptor Paul Landowski.

The roman colosseum Italy was built between 70-82 A.D. to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. This is a great amphitheatre. This huge theatre has four floors and a total spectator capacity of about 50,000. This construction was started by the roman emperor Vespasian and was completed by his son, Titus.

The machu picchu was built in Peru, South America ,in the15th century, the I can emperor Pachacutee buit a city in the clouds of the mountain known as Machu Picchu. This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes plateau.Myths and legends indicate that the machu picchu was reserved as a sacred place and it was used as astronomical observatory.

Petra was built in Jordan between 9 B.C. and 40 A.D. on the edge of the Arabian Desert. Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataian Empire of king Aretas IV. Petra is famous for having many stone structures carved johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

These seven wonders of the world are the most popular tourist spots in the world. Every year millions of tourists go to see them. The inclusion of the Taj Mahal at the top position has enhanced India’s prestige.

Essay No. 02

New 7 Wonders of the World

On 7/7/7 (a string of sevens) the new seven wonders of the world were announced by the New 7 Wonders Foundation (N7W), a privately funded organization from Zurich in Switzerland. The announcement was made in Lisbon since it was a neutral country because no historical places was a contender for the new seven wonders from the country. The seven wonders were selected by millions of voters from across the globe by online or via telephone for their countries historical monuments to win and find a place in the new seven wonders of the world. The initial ten shortlisted historical places out of which seven wonders were globally elected were :

1. Great Wall of China : was built (220 BC and 1368-1644 AD) to keep from invading Mongol tribes out of China. It is the longest man made monument to be visible from space!
2. Ruins of Petra : was the glittering capital of the Nabatae-an empire of King Arctas IV (9 BC to 40 AD). It had great tunnel construction, theatre and its 42-metre high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery are impressive examples of Middle Eastern Culture.
3. Acropolis of Athens : The Acropolis (450-330 Be) temples have become the most famous architectural land marks of ancient and modern history.
4. Chicken Itza ; It symbolizes worship and knowledge and was the most famous Mayan (800 AD) temple city.
5. The Statue of Christ Redeemer : A 38 metres tall statue of Jesus stands atop the carcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro since 1031. It welcomes visitors to Brazil.
6. Roman Colosseum : An amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built in (70-82 AD) to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Cruel fights and games used to take place in the area for the joy of the spectators!
7. Easter Land Statues Is a collection of 25 metre-high stone sculptures by the society of Polynesian and is believed to be erected between (10th and 16th century). These stone figures are known as Moat
8. Eiffel Tower: was created by Guestave Eiffel in 1887-89 AD. It is a magnificent steel tower and is a symbol of Paris. It is a fine example of an architecture.
9. Taj Mahal : was a mausoleum built in 17th century by Shah Japan in memory of his beloved wife Noor Jean. It is built out of white marble and is the greatest symbol of love and passion.
10. Incan Emperor Pachacutec The extraordinary settlement was built on the mountain known as Machu Picchu. It is a symbol of dedication and community.

The Seven New Wonders of the World are:

1. Taj Mahal (India)
2. Great Wall of China (China)
3. Ruins of Petra(Jordan)
4. The Coloseum (Rome)
5. Statue of Christ Redeemer (Brazil)
6. Perus Machu Picchu (Peru)
7. Chichen Itza Pyramid (Mexico)

Essay No. 03

The Seven New Wonders of The World

The project named as ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’ was launched, as a private initiative, by Bernard Weber of Swiss-origin, in 1999. The New Open World Corporation and relevant website were established in 2001. The objective of the New 7 Wonders Foundation was to revive the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’ concept, and prepare a list of modern ‘new 7 wonders of the world’ through a popular vote.

Herodotus (484 BC-425 BC) and Callimachus (305 BC-240 BC) had listed the ‘ancient’ 7 wonders of the world as: Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and Lighthouse of Alexandria. Of these, only the Great Pyramid of Giza is still standing; other six were destroyed in earthquake, fire, or due to other reasons.

For inclusion in the list of ‘new 7 wonders’ , the site had to be man-made, completed before the year 2000, and be in an acceptable state of preservation. People were invited to cast their votes through the internet or telephone. Over 100 million votes were cast to select `new 7 wonders’ from among the sites in 200 countries of the world. There was no check on multiple voting. By November 2005, 177 monuments were up for consideration. On 1 January 2006, the list was narrowed down to 21 sites. Later, following complaints from Egypt over the inclusion of their ancient Great Pyramid in the list of ‘new 7 wonders’, it was reduced to 20. A midpoint tally had a top 10 list which included all 7 winners, plus Acropolis (Greece), Easter Island Moais (Chile) and the Eiffel Tower (France). T

The winners were announced on 7 July 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.

The project had assigned attributes to each finalist, such as perseverance for the Great Wall of China and passion for the Taj Mahal.

In India, the movement had gathered momentum and reached a crescendo in July 2007 with news channels, radio stations, and many celebrities asking the public to vote. The Taj Mahal made it to the list of ‘new 7 wonders of the world’

The organizing foundation had relied on private donations, the sale of promotional merchandise and revenue from broadcasting rights to obtain funds, and originally committed to investing 50% of excess revenue in global good causes related to monument preservation and reconstruction. However, at the end, they wriggled out claiming ‘no earning’ from the exercise.

This project had nothing to do with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) whose ‘World Heritage List’ is different, and Taj Mahal was included in it in 1983. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor ShahJahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It has been cited as ‘the jewel of Muslim art in India and is one of the most admired masterpieces of the World’s Heritage’.

With immense public participation, the ‘new 7 wonders of the world’ have been chosen, and India’s Taj Mahal is one of them for people across the world to admire and enjoy.