The New Taj Mahal

Posted by Alex in Travel & Places on December 14, 2008 at 1:41 pm



Photo: our_bangladesh [Flickr]

It took almost 20 years for the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to build the Taj Mahal in the 1600s, but it took only 5 years for wealthy movie director Ahsanullah Moni to build his replica near Dhaka, Bangladesh:

He has imported marble and granite from Italy, diamonds from Belgium and used 160kg of bronze for the dome.

In support of his project, he said: "Everyone dreams about seeing the Taj Mahal but very few Bangladeshis can make the trip because it’s too expensive for them."

The Indians, however aren’t amused and are thinking of suing Moni for copyright infringement: Link | Reuter has the video – via Oddly Enough, Thanks Robert Basler !


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COMMENT

12 comments to "The New Taj Mahal"

  1. Aea
    December 14th, 2008 at 3:13 pm

    Could have been a little bit more classy if he decided to build the rumored black taj mahal.

    I don't see how this is an "exact" copy either, many, many proportions are wrong, it really does look like a cheap copy.

  2. Johnny Cat
    December 14th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    I'm no copyright expert, but doesn't it lapse after 120 years and become public domain? India may have a different law, but would it cover 400 years?

  3. Gonzo
    December 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Isn't that the 18th hole at HappyTime discount mini-golf?

  4. Idil
    December 14th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    He couldn't have been more creative?! Taj Mahal is awesome, but this is taking away the awesomeness of it...

  5. DOJ
    December 14th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Clearly copyrights should last forever. See what happens when they expire!

  6. Melvin
    December 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

    Ya, the Indian embassy is obviously talking out of it's butt about the copyright thing.

  7. liphttam1
    December 14th, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    Why not just make a piramid house and live in that? It would be cooler. It's also not "copyrighted".

  8. Christophe
    December 14th, 2008 at 11:04 pm

    I'm always amazed, considering the tough safety laws that we have, to see those bamboo scaffoldings. I'll never dare to climb those.

  9. ted
    December 15th, 2008 at 12:06 am

    How can you copyright it? Seems a little odd.

  10. Johnny Cat
    December 15th, 2008 at 12:58 am

    You could copyright a design. Any artistic material is subject to copyright, but they are misguided in their fervor.

  11. markduffy
    December 15th, 2008 at 12:09 pm

    There is a theme park called window of the world in Shenzhen, China that has a scaled down model of the Taj Mahal. http://lh6.ggpht.com/_YuM_GWCk5n8/RuQPnkTfv6I/AAAAAAAAAUw/yQAVqPpUDWQ/ IMG_1449.JPG

  12. Pink Coat
    December 15th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    No-one has mentioned how exorbitant this whole project is. Bangladesh is a VERY poor country, first this guy brings in imported things and builds a palace when regular joes don't even have a roof over their head. Plus, who is going to go pay a fee to see it when they can't even eat 3 meals a day?!!


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