Shah Jahan's magnificent ode to love is fighting off stiff competition in its bid to find a place in the new seven wonders of the world list.

Having made it to the shortlist of 21 sites, the Taj Mahal now has to beat monumental contenders like the Acropolis in Greece and the Great Wall of China as online voting picks up pace.

Twenty million votes are already in, said Tia Viering, a spokesman for the Swiss non-profit organisation, New7Wonders, which launched the campaign in 2000.

Though mum about how many votes the Taj had already garnered, Tia did admit that India was quite active in the voting.

"At the moment, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Petra and the Easter Island statues are all in the top half of the voting but the Taj Mahal needs all the support she can get, since the other countries are also voting more strongly every day,"says Tia.

On December 5, the huge New7Wonders airship will fly over and around the Taj Mahal to encourage people to vote.

New7Wonders had enlisted a panel of seven architecture experts to whittle down the top 77 nominees to a shortlist of 21 sites.

Nomination rules were strict. The New Seven Wonders have to be man-made, in an 'acceptable' state of preservation and be of artistic, architectural value. Among those which failed to make the grade are the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris and Reichstag Dome in Berlin.

The original seven wonders were selected by Philon of Byzantium in 200 BC and located around the Mediterranean basin. But with six of the seven destroyed, there have been several attempts to update the list.

Some have focused on modern buildings, while others argued that ancient civilisations erected monuments which should have been included.

No single list has previously won unanimous approval among historians, artists and architects. Chaired by the former director general of Unesco, Professor Federico Mayor, the judging panel has a number of illustrious names, including leading British architect Zaha Hadid.

Results of the poll will be announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.