New Seven Wonders of the World list: Aishwarya Rai votes for Taj Mahal

On December 1st, the Taj Mahal was added to the list of nominated Wonders of the World. Bollywood actress, Aishwarya Rai was in India to promote the Taj nomination. A total of 70 sites have been nominated in this new list. The monuments with the most votes by the end of February 2005 will be reviewed by the N7W panel of experts for inclusion in a shortlist of 21 monuments, which will again be short-listed to the final seven.

A Swiss adventurer flew past the Taj Mahal in a hot air balloon on Wednesday to give momentum to his campaign to get India’s 17th-century monument to love on a new list of the Seven Wonders of the World, sponsors said.

Former Indian Miss World Aishwarya Rai waved as Bernard Weber, who travels the world via hot air balloon and seaplane, hovered close to the Taj for 15 minutes as part of his internet campaign to choose a new list of wonders for the new millennium.

“Taj is more special because of symbol for which it stands for and that is love and that is why most people worldwide relate to it,” Weber said after the flight past the Moghul-built tomb. Directly above the Taj is a no-fly zone even for the military.

Weber stressed that there is a need to draw a new list of Seven Wonders of the World in the new millennium. “Ever since Philo of Byzantium compiled his declaration of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ in 200 BC, he has appeared to have had the final word,” said Weber.

However, the selection is not intended to replace the Ancient 7 Wonders declared by Philo of Byzantium, but continues the tradition of paying tribute to our collective global cultural heritage.

The seven wonders of the ancient world, a list drawn up in the second century BC, are legendary buildings that once graced the Mediterranean and Middle East - the Temple of Artemis, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos Lighthouse, the Statute of Zeus and the only remaining wonder standing, the Great Pyramid of Giza. The only surviving monument from the original list is the Great Pyramid of Khufu, located in Giza, Egypt. It was built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu.

To Vote:
Aishwarya Rai urged those interested in supporting the Taj Mahal to send SMS messages to the New Seven Wonders Foundation and support Taj’s nomination. Already 17-million people have nominated sites for the contest at www.n7w.com since the start of the new millennium, Weber said.

Other “wonders” considered in the list of the new ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ include:

Aachen Cathedral; Acropolis; Alhambra; Angkor Wat; Pyramids Of Chichen Itza, Mexico; City of Sana’a; Colosseum; Doges Palace; Statues Of Easter Island, Chile; Eiffel Tower, Paris; Empire State Building, New York; Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco; Hagia Sophia; Kremlin; Kyoto Palace; Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy; Machu Picchu; Panathinaiko Stadium; Petra;
Potala Palace; Sagrada Familia; Statue of Liberty, New York; Sydney Opera House, Australia; The Great Wall Of China; The Colosseum, Rome; Timbuktu; Versailles Palace, France;

Historically, the number seven has been considered lucky or magical. Seven appears repeatedly throughout various cultures: ancient Egyptians believed there were seven sacred planets and Muslims believe in seven heavens.

For 2nd Century BC Greeks, the number was used to identify the greatest, legendary monuments and buildings of the time: the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.