The Taj Mahal, Agra
Commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child, the Taj Mahal was completed in 1648.
One thousand or more elephants lent their heft to the 16-year project. Workmen, sculptors and artists came from Turkey, Syria, Baluchistan, Persia and Bukhara to work on the Taj. The marble was sourced from Rajasthan, the jade and crystal from China, the lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, the sapphires from Sri Lanka, the turquoise from Tibet and the carnelians from Arabia. Nearly every inch of the entire 55-metre high Taj Mahal is decorated.
The Coliseum, Rome
One thousand or more elephants lent their heft to the 16-year project. Workmen, sculptors and artists came from Turkey, Syria, Baluchistan, Persia and Bukhara to work on the Taj. The marble was sourced from Rajasthan, the jade and crystal from China, the lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, the sapphires from Sri Lanka, the turquoise from Tibet and the carnelians from Arabia. Nearly every inch of the entire 55-metre high Taj Mahal is decorated.
The Coliseum, Rome
The Leaning Tower of Pisa didn't even make the semi-finals, but the solitary Roman representative was one of the first monuments to get a confirmed spot on the list of new seven wonders of the world. The Coliseum, work on which was begun in 72 BC by Emperor Vespasian, took about 10 years to complete. It could seat 50,000 in its heyday. The Coliseum was used for 500 years. Games, re-staging of battles, hunts, animal fights and executions were all held here. Apparently 9,000 animals were killed during its inauguration.
The Great Wall of China
The Chinese call the Great Wall -- which runs along the border of Mongolia from the Shanhai Pass to Lop Nur -- Wanli Changcheng which mean the long wall of 10,000 Li (a Chinese unit of length). It is the longest man-made structure in the world measuring 4,000 miles. The Great Wall of China was built by the Ming dynasty to defend its borders from marauding Mongols. The wall was not successful in keeping out the Manchus, who hailed from Manchuria, and mounted several invasions on the Ming empire. They finally infiltrated through the wall at the Shanhai Pass in 1644 by bribing a Ming general and took control of Beijing. Thus began the Quing rule of China. The wall is the biggest military installation on the planet. The Great Wall of China, it is claimed, is visible from spacecraft orbiting the earth.
Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro
The statue of Christ, which was unveiled in 1931 and is locally called Cristo Redentor, has become a symbol for the city of Rio. It is 125 feet high and stands on the 2,300 ft Corcovado hill, which along with Sugar Loaf mountain towers over Rio harbour. The statue weighs 1,000 tonnes. French sculptor Paul Landowski, who created 35 statues for Paris, designed the Cristo Redentor. On the day of its inauguration the lights were meant to be turned on by legendary inventor Guglielmo Marconi from his yacht close to Naples, Italy, using radio technology. That plan failed and the lights were switched on from the hill in Rio.
Machu Picchu, Peru
The ancient citadel of the Incas - also called the Lost City of the Incas - is perched 7,900 feet above in the mountain jungles of the Andes, near the Amazon basin. It is considered one of the most mysterious sights in the world. And it is man-made. For nearly 500 years it remained hidden. It was built around 1450 AD very close to the Inca capital. Hardly 50 years later, the Inca kingdom was conquered by Spanish adventurers. Machu Picchu for some reason escaped the notice of the Spaniards and the jungle swallowed it up. It was re-discovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. Bingham, a professor at Yale university, was led to Machu Picchu by a local who knew of its existence. It is believed a missionary duo had discovered the site a decade or so earlier.
Chichen Itza, Mexico
This famous and sacred Mayan site, located in the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico, is about one thouand years old and showcases the Mayan-Toltec civilisation. The Kukulcan temple, also called El Castillo and the Temple of the Warriors, are both focal points of Chichen Itza. The word Chichen Itza means at the mouth of the well of the Itza, which seems to indicate its location near a limestone swallow hole (depression filled with water). Chichen-Itza was once part of a hacienda that was purchased by a man named Edward Thompson who had visions of building a hotel. Fortunately history - the arrival of the Mexican revolution - nixed that plan.
Petra, Jordan
The Nabataean ruins, carved in the steep rocks at Petra, lie in a valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Once the capital of a sect of cave-dwelling Semites, who spoke Aramaic, located on an early caravan route to Gaza, the Persian Gulf and Damascus, Petra was a flourishing city. Petra was also called Rekem and is mentioned in the Dead Sea scrolls (the 850-odd Hebrew documents that pre-date the Bible and give knowledge of that era). The people who lived here had special knowledge of water engineering and used special drainage systems, cisterns for water storage and dams to protect their capital from the habitual suddden floods that occurred.
