Agra

The Taj Mahal: one exception to the symmetry

Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth in 1631. The main mausoleum was finished in 1648, and the surrounding buildings and gardens in 1653. Around 20,000 workers came from across northern India, joined by sculptors from Bukhara and calligraphers from Persia. Step inside the mausoleum and you'll find two cenotaphs within a pierced marble screen. Mumtaz Mahal's is at the center, with Shah Jahan's on its western side. In a building that's symmetrical from end to end, his is the one thing off-center: it ended up there when he died in 1666 and his son Aurangzeb buried him beside his wife. The actual graves lie in the chamber below. Photography isn't allowed inside the mausoleum, so the walls inlaid with semi-precious-stone flowers and plants are something you'll have to carry away in memory.

Agra Fort: the view of a confined emperor

Agra Fort, about 2.5 km from the Taj Mahal, was commissioned by Emperor Akbar in 1565. Its red sandstone walls earned it a second name, the Red Fort. Amar Singh Gate is the only entrance, and since the Indian Army still uses part of the fort, only certain areas are open to visitors. On the side overlooking the river is the Musamman Burj, the tower where Shah Jahan is believed to have lived under house arrest, held by his son Aurangzeb, until he died. You can still see the Taj Mahal from here. A legend says that through those eight years of illness and confinement, he lay in bed and watched the Taj through a diamond set into the wall.

Across the river: Mehtab Bagh and the Baby Taj

Around sunset, cross the Yamuna to Mehtab Bagh. The garden sits on the bank directly opposite the Taj Mahal and was originally the last of 11 riverside gardens laid out by Emperor Babur. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who was in Agra in 1665, recorded that Shah Jahan had begun building his own tomb across the river, but war with his sons cut the plan short. The story that he meant to build it in black marble, a 'Black Taj', has come down as legend. Beside the garden on the riverbank, the Agra Development Authority has built a separate Taj View Point, and the official guide calls the Taj seen from there in the morning and evening the 'golden Taj'. On the same riverbank, Itimad-ud-Daulah is a tomb Empress Nur Jahan built for her father between 1623 and 1628. Its inlay of yellow, black and white marble earned it the nickname Baby Taj.

Fatehpur Sikri: a capital emptied in 14 years

Fatehpur Sikri, 37 km from Agra, is the city Akbar built to honor the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti. It was the Mughal capital from 1571 to 1585, but a lack of water meant it was eventually abandoned. The Jami Masjid, built in 1571, is one of the largest mosques in India, and the saint's marble tomb stands within the complex. The Buland Darwaza, a massive gate decorated with verses from the Quran, rises at the top of a 13 m flight of steps.

The Taj by moonlight: five nights a month

On the full moon and the two nights either side of it, five nights a month, the Taj Mahal opens after dark too. Viewing runs from 8pm to just before midnight in eight 30-minute slots, each capped at 50 people. Foreign adults pay ₹750, and there's no night viewing on Fridays or during the month of Ramadan. Buy tickets through the online portal of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Half an hour before the time on your ticket, get to Shilpgram near the east gate with your ID for the security check. Phones aren't allowed in at night, but a regular camera is fine once it's been checked.

Agra's food and crafts

Mornings in Agra start with bedai and jalebi, sold all over the city. Bedai is a puffy fried bread served with sabzi, a spicy vegetable curry; jalebi is fried fermented batter soaked in syrup. The city's signature sweet is petha, made from ash gourd and said to have been around for more than 350 years. It comes two ways: dry and chewy, or soft and syrupy. Try dalmoth too, a savory mix of nuts, lentils and spices. For dinner, go for Mughlai meat curries made rich with cream, and when you're peckish, head to the chaat lane (chaat wali gali) in Sadar Bazar. Agra is also known for pietra dura, colored stone inlaid into marble like the walls of the Taj, as well as for rugs and leather goods.

A suggested 3-day, 2-night plan

Day 1 — Travel from the Delhi area by train or on the Yamuna Expressway (165 km between Greater Noida and Agra) → Agra Fort in the afternoon → Mehtab Bagh at sunset Day 2 — Taj Mahal at opening (30 minutes before sunrise) → rest at your hotel through midday → Itimad-ud-Daulah and Akbar's tomb at Sikandra (completed in 1613) in the afternoon → dinner in Sadar Bazar Day 3 — Fatehpur Sikri in the morning → head back toward Delhi in the afternoon Foreign visitor fees are ₹650 for Agra Fort, ₹610 for Fatehpur Sikri, ₹310 each for Itimad-ud-Daulah and Sikandra, and ₹300 for Mehtab Bagh (most are slightly lower on Fridays).

What to eat

• Petha (Agra's ash gourd sweet)
• Bedai and jalebi (Agra's breakfast)
• Mughlai food (creamy meat curries)
• Chaat (Sadar Bazar's chaat lane)

Handy tips

• The Taj Mahal is closed every Friday. Foreign visitors pay ₹1,100, plus ₹200 to go inside the main mausoleum; under-15s get in free. You can buy tickets in advance on the official website.
• A foreign visitor's ticket includes shoe covers, a bottle of water and a map of Agra. Food, phone chargers, headphones, tripods and drones aren't allowed, and big bags slow down security, so pack light.
• Polluting vehicles can't go within 500 m of the Taj. Get out at the Shilpgram parking for the east gate or Amrood ka Teela for the west gate, then switch to a battery bus or golf cart (free with a foreign visitor's ticket).