The Petronas Twin Towers is one of the most famous landmarks in Malaysia. The 88-storey building was once the single tallest skyscraper in the world back in 1999, but has since been surpassed by many other skyscrapers such as the Burj Khalifa, the Shanghai Tower and now even Malaysia’s very own brand new Merdeka 118.
The twin tower is without a doubt so spectacular that its replica has been built in a whole other country. The Petronas Twin Towers recently appeared in a city called Kalyani, West of Bengal India. It has long been such a cultural symbol for the Asian community that people in India have re-created the skyscraper as a marquee for a religious celebration.
According to Sinchew, this copycat version of the Petronas Twin Towers is built in conjunction with a religious Hindu Festival called “Durga Puja”. It is understood that this festival is a celebration of worship to the Hindu goddess, Durga. This year, the Petronas Twin Towers is a “pandal (religious marquee)” for the Hindus of Kalyani to witness the celebration.
At first look, the replica looks like a distorted version of the real Petronas Twin Towers. Both towers have 88 floors, or layers, but instead of being 452 metres high, the Twin Tower version in India is only around 45 metres. Almost ten times smaller than the one in Kuala Lumpur! At night, the replica lights up in rainbow colours, seemingly very similar to the Petronas Twin Towers.
It is reported that the “pandal” was built using simple materials such as glass, wood and plywood. It took around 70 people to complete the whole process. The highlight of the event – a beautiful statue of the goddess Durga, was placed at the centre of the tower for people to come and worship. According to sources, the inspiration for this Petronas Twin Tower replica came from an earlier construction of a replica of the Burj Khalifa.
Interested to see how it looks like from the inside? Watch this clip:
Source: India Today
Puteri Teja contributed to this article.
