“Mr. Aldous Huxley recounts his visit to the Taj at sunset. The choice of hour was at the advice of his guide, he said. He describes the building as “picturesque,” and apparently he considers it in a class with Sezincote or the pavilion at Brighton, the two famous examples of romantic, mock-Mughal architecture in England. When the sun was going down, he speaks of the silver of the river, the rich verdancy of the gardens, the evening sounds of birds and insects, the changing colors of the sky, and the presentiment of the planets Venus and mercury. He was impressed with everything he saw- with the exception of the building. “Nature” he says, “did its best,” but “the Taj was a disappointment”. __A Critique On The Taj Mahal by Clay Lancaster I can’t agree more.

So the Taj won(dered) again! Now what? Arguably, this is the most emotionally biased win by a bunch of supercilious fanatics, who are getting keyed up about a triumph that they did little to contribute towards. I don’t even think a lot of thought went into why Taj Mahal should be voted as a seventh wonder.
In the process, great monuments that represent ideals of greater importance are being overshadowed. Not to mention, Taj’s own scholastic assessment has been completely eclipsed.

Let’s talk about the positive attributes first:
• Taj won primarily because it represents love and passion.
• Not only this, it inspired a great deal of literature. Admirers attracted to the picturesque monument have showered it with praise in the form of poetry, fictional stories and even contributed to many myths surrounding it’s prominence. Likewise, artists criticizing the Taj seem to be overflowing with creativity as well.
• Architecturally, it is renowned for it’s aesthetic beauty. Rightly so!

Now the negatives:
• Irrespective of what it looked like in the 17th century, the white shimmering marble is now a dull yellow, badly maintained and completely lacks luster. The air is polluted, the water is smelly, the place is filthy. It’s all very chaotic.
• We’ve heard innumerable stories about the great craftsmen who constructed this monument of love. They were horrifically mutilated to satisfy the emperor’s fanciful wish that there is to be no other monument as elegant and bewitching as the Taj Mahal anywhere in the world. What a price to pay to gratify his ego and his love for one woman. Is that the ideal we voted for?
• In view of the fact that the aesthetically beautiful monuments that lost candidacy represent civilization, democracy, dignity, dialogue, intellect, mysticism, endurance, generosity, hope, imagination, our vote for Taj that represents passion-at-the-expense-of-many-great-lives is unfair, to say the least.
• Not to mention, this is a colossal waste of money spent on one man's muse. Even today, duplicating the Taj would be impracticable. All things considered, it is a hopeless price to pay for something whose value for the money spent is questionable.

So what is India proud about? And how does one compare several aesthetically diverse monuments, that represent an assortment of ideals, that were created under incommensurable circumstances, using varied technologies, over many periods of times? What was the criteria for selection?