Our history creates a great impact on shaping our future. The ancient technologies adopted by our very own ancestors are extremely iconic. They built breathtaking architectures all around the world using only the resources available to them.
Our modern-day disbelief in our ancestor's ability has led to a plethora of 'conspiracy theories' about our past engineering feats, ranging from long-lost highly advanced ancestors to aliens. But is this fair? Why wouldn't they be as clever or ingenious as we are today? We should probably afford them a bit more respect. The human race has been culturally evolved, but their appetite for creation has never diminished. There is a saying- they who create history do not have time to write it; yes, this proverb proves again that our Mother Earth is greatest of all. Our Mother Earth preserved all these architectural feats of our ancestors with her utmost endearment.
We have previously discussed ancient wonders. Now is the time to reveal the beauty and mysteries of the new Seven Wonders of the World. We have some preconceived notions about our past. We often regard our ancestors as uncivilized, crude and cruel. Today, when science and technology with its ever-increasing pace are powerful determinants of the conditions of modern life, I still think that the human race has been stuck with their primitive instincts. We haven't really changed over the course of time. Let us see some examples.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Holocaust, innumerable genocides across the globe, Patriarchy and misogyny - Have we really changed or are we at the exact same position where we were thousands of years ago?
''The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind''
The new seven wonders of the world are: -
1. The Great Wall of China
2. The Taj Mahal
3. Petra
4. Colosseum
5. Christ the Redeemer
6. Chichen Itza
7. Machu Picchu
These sites and monuments are popularly known as the new Seven Wonders of the World. The new wonders were determined in 2007 through an online campaign launched by a Swiss company where more than 100 million people voted. All of these are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Built on four continents, mostly ancient and medieval empires, the sites selected in 2007, are all architectural marvels of enormous scale and are among the most visited tourist attractions in the world.
The Great Wall of China was continuously built from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD on the northern border of the country as the great military defence project of successive Chinese Empires with a total length of 20,000 kilometres. The design of the Wall constructed across the mountain Passes and ridges make strategic use of natural terrain. The best-preserved portion of the Wall runs east to west from southeastern Liaoning provider to northwestern Gansu Province. The great wall reflects the collision and exchanges between agricultural civilizations and nomadic civilizations in ancient China.
While the emperors have found their places only in history books, The Wall still stands. If you keep an ear on the wall, you can still listen to the murmuring of the Mother Earth, who herself nurtures the wall over the course of time.
Petra of Jordan was built between the 4th century B.C to the 2nd century A.D by the Nabataean kingdom. Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the incense trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub. They lived in the Wadi Musa valley for more than 400 years, in a spot strategically located along early silk and spice trade routes. UNESCO has described Petra as ''One of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage''. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it as Arabia Petraea. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake destroyed its many structures.
Christ the Redeemer in Brazil is one of the finest and formidable creations in this world. It is an Art deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot. Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 30 metres (98 ft) high, excluding its 8 metres pedestal. The arms stretch 28 metres wide. The statue weighs 635 metric tons, and is located at the peak of the 700 metres Corcovado mountain in the Tijuka forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. At the time the statue was commissioned by the Catholic Church in the early 20th century, over ninety percent of Brazilians were Catholic. Maintenance work needs to be conducted periodically due to strong winds and erosion to which the statue is exposed, as well as lightning strikes.
Chichen Itza, Mexico was an ancient Mayan city that eventually became part of the Maya-Toltec civilization. It flourished until around A.D 1200 and later joined a political alliance with the city of Mayapan and Uxmal. It had already been abandoned by the time the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. The ruins feature religious temples that epitomize Maya innovation in astronomy and science. The temple of Kukulkan has 365 steps, one for each day in the Haab Solar calendar. The temple is crowned by a carving of Kukulkan, the feathered serpent deity.
Now some words about Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Incan settlement, one of the few that remain intact and situated on the Eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. It was probably built as a royal retreat for the Incan emperor Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest. An American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attentions in 1911. The architecture was integrated into the natural terrain, its walls and terraces cut into the rock. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate. The historic sanctuary of Machu Pichu is among the greatest artistic, architectural and land use achievements anywhere and the most significant tangible legacy of the Inca civilization.
The Colosseum, also known as The Flavian Amphitheatre is an oval amphitheater in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman forum. Built of travertine limestone, tuff (Volcanic rock) and brick-faced concrete, it was the longest amphitheater ever built at that time and held 50,000 to 80,000 spectators. Construction began under the E+mperor Vespasian in A.D. 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir, Titus. It was used for gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas based on Roman mythology. It was later used for such purposes as housing, workshops, allurers for a religious order and a Christian shrine. Although substantially ruined because of earthquake and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is still an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the world.
Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the southern bank of river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1983 for being ''the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage''.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees. The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Taj Mahal represents the finest architectural and artistic achievement through perfect harmony and excellent craftsmanship in a whole range of Indo-Islamic Sepulchral architecture. It is a masterpiece of architectural style in conception, treatment and execution and has unique aesthetic qualities in balance, symmetry and the harmonious blending of various elements.
Wonders are existing over centuries just because the Earth protects them, saves them from calamities and gives us the scope to perceive their elegance. Earth holds us like a mother, it nurtures us like a mother does and she is as patient as our mother.