Tacky of Classy... Can you replicate the Taj Mahal?

As you have probably heard, the Taj Arabia is due to be finished in 2014.  This Taj Mahal replica has not gone down well in India, as they cite that it is desiccating a 'Spiritual Centre' representing '5,000 years of excellence'.

Personally, I believe that the Indians are also concerned with the effect that this will have on their tourism industry, being as how this is their number one tourist attraction.  Realistically though this will prove to be unsubstantiated when you consider Vegas has replicas of the Pyramids and the Eiffel Tower, yet people still travel from other sides of the worlds to view the real ones.

 

The Taj Arabia is another of Dubai's frankly rather odd ideas to bring tourists into the region.  They plan to make this the number one destination of choice for those wishing to marry in the sun, providing a one stop shop of wedding boutiques, chapels, spiritual centres etc, together with a 5 star hotel to cater for the wedding parties. 

I just find this a little weird.  Will people really want to marry in a replica of what is undoubtedly one of the most romantic places in  the world, but which at it's heart is still a mausoleum and more importantly, a replica???  Will Vera Wang and other designers flock to open wedding boutiques here???

The answer in short is yes.   It should be noted that everything out here is big and brash.  The furniture shops contain so many items that in my book are a little on the tacky side, the sort of thing you would expect to see in a Russian oligarch house;  Lots of chrystal, gold and chrome intermingled with shiny back/white surfaces.

Maybe it is the English sentimentality in me that I think less is more, or maybe it is the fact that out here, everything is new (even the 'old' buildings are replicas of the original buildings apart from in Bur Dubai which is the only place in which original architecture can be seen). I like a mix of old and new.  Contemporary and antique is more my style, but I don't envisage the Taj Arabia to have the serenity that you expect from the Taj Mahal, as everywhere in Dubai so far has been hussling and bustling, noisy and new.

I would not go so far as to say that I am offended by it, but am I the only person to find this tacky?  The pictures that this is currently conjuring up in my head are rather on the vulgar side, similar to the wedding pictures where, in America, everyone in a wedding party wore Louis Vuitton monogrammed outfits (and I mean everyone... including the bride), whilst being ferried to and from the venues in a Rolls Royce which was covered, inside and out, in the same cream on brown Louis Vuitton monogram logo.  Or this Phantom above.  Classy huh?! 

I would be very surprised if the big fashion houses do not open wedding boutiques here.  Shopping is the major tourist attraction, with Festivals of Shopping being a winter staple during January and February.  Even on Eid, the malls open for 24 hours.  

Dubai itself, compartmentalises areas in the city.  The newspapers and news channels are found in Media City, big car dealerships in Motor City, investment banks in DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) and so on.  Now Dubai will have an area dedicated to all things 'weddingy', although I would not have a clue what this will be called.  Wedding City perhaps?!

That said, I totally plan on visiting the Taj Arabia as soon as it has been completed.  I will be going not to replace a visit to the real thing, far from it in fact, but seeing as Dubai is about opulence, a replica of the Taj Mahal is Dubai at it's best... and it's flashiest.