India slams Dubai's copycat Taj Mahal

Agra - Officials in India have called for investors in Dubai's proposed reproduction of the Taj Mahal to call off plans to recreate it, branding such plans "absurd and wrong."

Earlier this month Digital Journal reported that developers planned to invest $1 billion in a reproduction of India's Taj Mahal, to be named Taj Arabia. The lofty ambitions of Link Global Group, which is planning the construction, aim to make the Arabic Taj four times larger than the original building, turning Dubai into a wedding destination. Al Arabiya reported that cultural officials in India are not happy with the plans which they called "duplicating history artificially." Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society, said: "Ideally the Dubai builder should not go ahead with this project as it hurts our sentiments. Taj Mahal is basically a spiritual center, with thousands of people offering prayers and paying obeisance round the year.” Other officials claimed at the very least India should receive a share of royalties from anyone using the Taj Mahal brand.