NEW DELHI: Always counted among the man-made marvels of the world by its admirers, the Taj Mahal on Sunday found pride of place in a new list of seven wonders polled by people around the globe.
The most photographed monument is accompanied by The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico and the Roman Collosseum in the list announced at a gala ceremony in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to coincide with the date 07.07.07.
In a colourful ceremony amid songs and dance, Bollywood star Bipasha Basu announced Taj Mahal as one of the wonders. Agra Mayor Anjula Singh received the award.
Indians voted overwhelmingly in the polls cast by around 100 million people from across the world. The polling picked up drastically over the last one month, to see the "monument of love" through to the final seven.
The worldwide poll, in which people could vote for their favourite monument either online or through SMS, was conducted by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group.
The one-and-a-half-hour-long ceremony at Portugal's largest venue, the Estadio da Luz, saw award-presentation appearances Blary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neil Armstrong.
The celebrity-studded event also saw performances by Jennifer Lopez, Chaka Khan and Dulce Pontes.
The most photographed monument is accompanied by The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico and the Roman Collosseum in the list announced at a gala ceremony in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to coincide with the date 07.07.07.
In a colourful ceremony amid songs and dance, Bollywood star Bipasha Basu announced Taj Mahal as one of the wonders. Agra Mayor Anjula Singh received the award.
Indians voted overwhelmingly in the polls cast by around 100 million people from across the world. The polling picked up drastically over the last one month, to see the "monument of love" through to the final seven.
The worldwide poll, in which people could vote for their favourite monument either online or through SMS, was conducted by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group.
The one-and-a-half-hour-long ceremony at Portugal's largest venue, the Estadio da Luz, saw award-presentation appearances Blary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neil Armstrong.
The celebrity-studded event also saw performances by Jennifer Lopez, Chaka Khan and Dulce Pontes.
3 Comments
Vote for TAJ ......Cool money churner... We are emotional fool
THIS IS CALLED HERD MENTALITY
VOTE FOR TAJ or U are not patriot ...
There are other ways to sow the patriotism ...
U can begin by not dirtying the train or ur city .....
this is a gimmick and the site and the sms thing is providing them with all the revenues...
So pls stay away and dont become a fool ...
UNESCO denies linkage with "seven new wonders of the world" campaign
www.chinaview.cn 2007-06-21 21:12:53
PARIS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a move to protect its reputation, has denied any linkage between its World Heritage protection program, and the ongoing media campaign dubbed the "seven new wonders of the world."
This campaign was launched in 2000 by Bernard Weber in his private capacity, and its idea is to select seven new wonders of the world through a global polling process by citizens of the entire world.
"Although UNESCO was severally requested to support such an initiative at its launching, it declined to collaborate with Weber in this campaign," according to a statement issued Wednesday by UNESCO.
"UNESCO's stated objective and mandate is to assist countries in the identification, protection and preservation of world heritage. It is meaningless to acknowledge sentimental or symbolic value of certain sites and classify them on a new list," says the statement.
The organization pointed out, among others, that there was no shade of comparison between Weber's media campaign and UNESCO's scientific and educational work leading to registration of sites in the World Heritage list.
"The list of the seven new wonders of the world will be regarded as an effort of a private initiative, only reflecting the opinion of a public with access to the internet, and not that of the world as a whole," according to UNESCO.
And here in India we are as usual self-proclaimed BEST ... hahahahahah
LUCKNOW: Close on the heels of announcement of the New Seven Wonders of the World on Saturday, the erstwhile royals from Uttar Pradesh have questioned the transparency of the voting pattern of the contest.
''Taj is numero uno and remains so...the private organisation, NSW Society, holding the contest neither has representatives from respective countries nor has a clear stand on the voting procedure. How can someone decide on the positioning of Taj,'' wondered Royal Family of Awadh (RFA) general secretary Shikoh Azad.
For more check my blog:
http://bangaloreamrisha.blogspot.com/