Agra has long been renowned as the city of the Taj Mahal.  In addition to the legendary Taj, Agra has many magnificent monuments that epitomise the high point of the Mughal architectural achievement.

The Chosen City
Agra was the chosen city of the Mughal emperors during the early years. It was here that the founder of the dynasty, Babur, laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of the River Yamuna. Here, Akbar, his grandson, raised the towering ramparts of the great Red Fort. Within its walls, Jehangir built rose-red palaces, courts and gardens. Shahjehan embellished it with marbled mosques, palaces and pavilions of gem-inlaid white marble. At Sikandra, on the outskirts of Agra, Akbar built his own garden mausoleum. And at Fatehpur Sikri he created a whole new city — a leap of the imagination that made real a unique concept of planning and design and gave expression to a style of architecture that was a perfect blend of Islamic spatial concepts and the Hindu genius for decorative sculpture. Across the river, Jehangir's gifted queen, Noorjehan, designed an exquisite marble-inlaid tomb for her parents. But Agra's crowning glory remains the Taj Mahal, a monument to love built by Shahjehan in memory of his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal.

Full moon dates for Taj Viewing.

A Monument of Love
The Taj Mahal stands serene and perfect in its garden of cypresses and reflecting pools on the banks of the River Yamuna. Its pure white marble shimmers silver in the moonlight, glows softly pink at dawn, and at close of day reflects the fiery tints of the setting sun. The Taj in all its timeless beauty is still the inspiration of poets and painters, writers and photographers. And lovers still meet here in the moonlight in the shadow of the world's most famous monument to love. 

Shahjehan built the Taj in memory of Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to their 14th child. No cost was spared to make it the most beautiful monument the world had ever seen. White marble and red sandstone, silver and gold, camelian and jasper, moonstone and jade, lapiz lazuli and coral were fashioned by 20,000 skilled workers to make the emperor's dream a reality. It took 22 years to complete — a symbol of eternal love where Shahjehan too lies buried, re-united at last with his beloved Mumtaz. 

Set at the north end of a formal Persian garden with water courses, paved walkways and rows of dark cypresses, the Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace, its flawless double dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen, and a little to one side — the only asymmetrical feature in the Taj — the richly decorated casket of the emperor. Both are enclosed by an octagonal screen of finely pierced marble. So perfect are the proportions of the Taj, so exquisite its workmanship, that it has been described as having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers.

Excursions : include visit to Fatehpur Sikri, the capital of Emperor Akbar for 16 years; Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna;Bharatpur, best known for its bird sanctuary.