For all the real estate investors out there, have you ever wondered to yourself, how much would it cost in modern times to build an exact replica of the Taj Mahal?

Well, a wealth film-maker from Bangladesh can tell you, it costs around $58 million. And in fact only takes about 5 years with modern building technology.

Ahsanullah Moni’s dream was to be able to bring the Taj Mahal to Bangladesh, as he was acutely aware of many Bangladesh people’s desire to one day visit the real Taj Mahal.

Thus, he thought to himself, if they cannot get to the Taj Mahal – due to financial reasons, mostly – then why not bring the Taj Mahal to them? In the form of creating a complete replica.

Although construction itself only began five years ago in 2003, Moni had the dream of building this replica since 1980, when he visited the Taj Mahal for the first time out of many more to follow in his life.

“I used the same marble and stone as in the original Taj,” Moni said. “We used machinery, which is why it took less time. Otherwise it would have taken 20 years and 22,000 workers to complete it.”

The story behind the Taj Mahal is of course a romantic tale of the heart-broken Moghul emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century who built the palace for his second wife who died during childbirth.

• Source: The Age