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AGRA, India (AFP) - A Swiss adventurer plans to fly past the Taj Mahal in a
balloon Wednesday -- possibly with former Miss World Aishwarya Rai -- in a bid
to get India's 17th century monument to love on a new list of the seven wonders
of the world.
Bernard Weber, an adventurer and filmmaker who travels the world via hot air balloon and seaplane, has persuaded Bollywood actress Rai to join his Internet campaign to choose a new list of wonders for the new millennium.
It was still to be decided if Rai would travel in the hot air balloon or wave to Weber from beside the Taj Mahal when he flew past, organisers said Tuesday.
The seven wonders of the ancient world, a list drawn up in the second century BC, are legendary buildings that once graced Mediterranean and Middle East nations -- the Temple of Artemis, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos Lighthouse, the Statute of Zeus and the only remaining wonder standing, the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
Weber says it is time for a new list. He wants people to vote on his Internet site for nominees including the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the Coliseum in Rome and Versailles Palace in France.
Already 17 million people have nominated sites for the contest at www.n7w.com since the start of the new millennium, Weber said.
Sarah Yuen, event manager for the campaign, said a panel of seven experts would consider the 77 most popular sites for inclusion in a shortlist of 21 candidates to be announced in Zurich on December 21.
A vote would be held on the 21 sites in 2005 with a final announcement via a live worldwide telecast on January 1, 2006. |