With its Big Ben-replica, Kolkata joins notable replicators

With the rupee ruling at over a hundred to the pound, London is definitely receding as a lure for the intrepid Bengali traveller, especially during the Dussehra holidays. Besides, one of London’s most famous tourist spots — the 156-year old recently renamed Elizabeth Tower popularly if erroneously known as Big Ben — needs urgent repairs and may well be screened off during that time. So, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party colleagues who came up with the idea of erecting a near-exact if scaled-down replica of the clock tower in Kolkata must be commended. The tower's unveiling just before the festive season is particularly apt as now seeing Big Ben will necessitate merely taking the road to Kolkata's airport rather than a flight to London.

Thus, Kolkata joins the list of notable replicators, including China that has duplicated every international landmark at a Shenzhen theme park, Bangladesh with its ersatz Taj Mahal and the US' 'Foamhenge' among others. Even West Bengal's neighbour Sikkim has reproduced the Char Dhams, 12 Jyotirlings and the Shirdi Sai Baba temple to tap the huge pilgrimage tourism market. With a wax museum, a 'Kolkata Eye' Ferris wheel and even a Big Bon (sister, a.k.a. Didi) beside the Hooghly, the Thames may well be a-changing for Anglophile tourists on tight budgets.