Taj Mahal (Bangladesh)

The Taj Mahal in Bangladesh

The Taj Mahal under construction

The Taj Mahal in Bangladesh is a copy of the mausoleum of the same name in Agra ( India ). It is located about 16 kilometers east of Dhaka in Sonargaon . The building was constructed from 2003 to late 2008 and is believed to have cost $ 58 million. Its owner Ahsanullah Moni, a wealthy film producer, built 160 kilograms of bronze for the roof dome, had marble and granite shipped from Italy and imported diamonds from Belgium. Architects and six technicians from India transferred the exact dimensions of the original Taj Mahal to the replica . Moni said he wanted to give the poor in his country a glimpse of the famous monument.

Motivation for the construction project

With his mega-project, the builder Ahsanullah Moni wanted to create a public and tourist attraction near the capital Dhaka and to stimulate domestic and foreign tourism, as Bangladesh has so far had very little tourism income and, according to the World Tourism Organization, only 0.1 percent of the Asian visitors Visit Bangladesh. The building complex stands on a 1.6 hectare area that also serves as a film set .

Criticism and media coverage

The construction caused resentment in India. There were even official threats of legal action for infringing the copyright of the original Taj Mahal (which is more than 300 years old, however). The Monis project attracted a lot of public attention in 2008/09.