Bangladeshi Director to Build Mini-taj Mahal

A Bangladeshi film-maker yesterday unveiled an inventive, if expensive, solution to his country's lack of tourist landmarks: just copy someone else's.

Using 160kg (353lb) of bronze, marble and granite from Italy and diamonds from Belgium in its construction, Ahsanullah Moni has reproduced a replica of India's Taj Mahal 18 miles north-east of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. He said that Bangladeshis could not "afford to go to Agra to see the Taj, so I am bringing the Taj to them".

Moni said the 4bn taka (£39m) replica of the Mughal complex covers 1.6 hectares (4-acres) and is part of a giant movie set.

Almost 40% of Bangladesh's 142 million people live below the official poverty line. "I am doing this only for the poor. They cannot travel. They cannot see this historical wonder," said Moni. "I also hope the landmark construction can attract more tourists from home and abroad."

Bangladesh is hardly a haven for tourists. Less than 0.1% of visitors to the region make a stop there.

The director, who also owns a studio and cinema, first saw the Taj Mahal in 1980 and traveled back six times to see how he might "rebuild it in Bangladesh". In the end he sent his architects to measure the dimensions of the building and brought back Indian technicians to help him recreate one of the "wonders of the world".

India's Taj Mahal is considered the high point of Mughal architecture and was described by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as "a tear on the face of eternity".

It was built in the 17th century by the heartbroken Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved third wife, who died during childbirth.