The Taj Mahal is regarded one of the best known and most iconic monuments in the world. It is considered one of the finest architectural and artistic achievements. Unsurprisingly, it made the modern day "seven wonders" of the world list and is a protected UNESCO world heritage site. It lies on the south bank of the Yamuna river in Agra.
It is a white marble mausoleum which was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his most beloved wife (yes he had more than one) Mumtaz Mahal. During their 19 years of marriage, they had 14 children together and she died of childbirth in 1631. The story goes that one of the promises the emperor made to her on her death bed was to build her the most beautiful mausoleum the world had ever seen. Part of the experience of the Taj Mahal is listening to the love story behind this stunning building. We had a great guide who told us about the history of the site and we will never do the entire story justice. So we will give you a recap on what we thought were some impressive features.
Background & features of the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build as indicated by the number of round ornaments on top of the "Great Gate" which is the gateway to the gardens.
It is (almost) perfectly symmetrical along a central axis.
The only non symmetrical part is the tomb of emperor Shah Jahan which was placed next to that of Mumtaz Mahal. Why? He never planned for his tomb to be next to his wife's. His plan was to build a black Taj Mahal across from the Yamuna river and to connect the two buildings with a bridge. The plans for the black Taj Mahal came to an end when one of his sons dethroned him and imprisoned him in the Agra Fort (a palace).
The structure is decorated with flower motifs made of semi-precious stones such as coral, jade, lapis azuli and amber. Thuluth script also decorates the outside of the building and is made of jasper. The stones are inlaid in the marble.
Inside the mausoleum the decorations become more intricate and extravagant. The stones used are orange carnelian, multi-colored agates and chalcedonies, lapis lazuli, bloodstone and garnet.
The families of the original craftsmen or "masters" as they call them are still helping maintain the Taj Mahal today.
The Taj Mahal gardens have a mosque on the left side when facing the Taj Mahal. To maintain its symmetry the exact some building was built on the right side but does not function as a mosque.
The 4 pillars (minarets) tilt slightly outward from the central dome of the mausoleum. This is for two reasons: in case of an earthquake, the pillars would fall outwards and because the tilt creates an optical illusion.
Before the pandemic, the Taj Mahal attracted 7-8 million visitors a year. Daily visitors reached between 35,000 and 40,000 per day. In 2022, this has decreased to about 3.3 million. When we visited in May 2023, the majority of the visitors were locals whereas before it was mostly overseas.
When visiting the Taj Mahal, you need to keep in mind that it's a very touristy place. There are no hidden gems and no special opening times for tourists. Photos in the main photo spots right in front of the Taj Mahal without any people on it are often photoshopped. Sorry to break your bubble but we want to be honest. With that in mind we do have some good tips for you to come prepared and have the best day out!
Do you need a guide?
No, you don't need one. We would however, recommend one. We had a guide and especially with it being our first time in India it made sure everything went smooth. We also think it really adds to the experience, our guide not only told us about the history of the monument but also the love story behind it. Added bonus: the guides will also know where the best photography spots are!
What's included:
Driver pick up and drop off to your hotel in New Delhi
Guided tour at the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort
Enough water provided for the whole day
Tickets will be booked online for you
Excluded:
Entrance ticket fees
Pick up from our hotel in New Delhi was at 23:00 the day before. Price was 88 EUR for 2 people. The whole experience was booked through Get Your Guide.
What is the best time to visit?
The Taj Mahal is open every day EXCEPT on Friday. It opens 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 minutes before sunset.
Sunrise is the best time to go, the colour of the Taj Mahal changes during the sunrise so you will get to see the monument in different hues of pink before it turns white. We went in May which is during the hottest month of the year and going for sunrise also meant the temperature was a lot more comfortable.
If you would like a very special experience, we were also told about the night viewing by our guide. Night viewing of Taj Mahal is available for five days during the month. On full moon night, two nights before and two nights after the full moon. The times are between 20:30 and 00:30. There is a group maximum of 50 people and a time limit of 30 minutes. No mobile phones and video cameras are allowed, only a still camera as they want people to fully enjoy the experience without any distractions.
What to wear?
There is no official dress code but be respectful of the local culture. Cover your knees and shoulders and you're good to go! It will also be more comfortable for you as it can get hot and although a bit counter intuitive it will protect you from the sun.
What to expect:
Entrance fee for foreigners is 1100 INR (Indian Rupees) for the Taj Mahal complex and an additional 200 INR to enter the mausoleum (12.11 and 2.20 EUR respectively). If you're coming all this way to see the Taj Mahal, get both tickets!
There are three gates: East, West and South. The East gate is more popular with tourists and the West gate is typically used by the locals. The South gate is currently closed to visitors.
If your plan is to go through the East gate, cars are no longer allowed near the Taj Mahal due to pollution. It is a short walk but beware of pickpockets and beggars along the way. To be sure just don't have anything in your pockets or keep your hands on them.
It saves time at the entrance if you buy the tickets online or ask your guide to do so for you.
Women and men line up separately at security, the queues will join up again after security.
At security they will check your bag if you have one with you, skip down to our section on what's not allowed in the Taj Mahal.
In the courtyard, just before the great gate there will be photographers with DSLR cameras offering to take photos of you during your tour. We were advised to refuse it unless we really wanted to buy photos of a photographer. We don't love staged photos and lucky for us our tour guide insisted on taking lots of photos of us.
At the mausoleum, you have to wear disposable shoe covers. These were provided to us by our guide.
The mosque is closed to visitors due to disrespectful content being posted on social media. Entry was possible up until a few years ago.
Is anything not allowed at the Taj Mahal?
Don't bring food, tobacco, chargers, tripods, drones, batteries any other electronics except for your phone and camera
Phone and camera is allowed
A small bag and a small bottle of water are allowed, don't bring large bags.
No photography inside the mausoleum (this is because they are worried about copying)
Video recording is not allowed. This was introduced to limit nuisance to other visitors as well as limiting disrespectful content being posted on social media.
Should you combine it with any other sites around Agra?
If you decide to book a tour guide, you will most likely get the option to combine the Taj Mahal with Baby Taj (Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah) or Agra Fort. We decided to see the Agra Fort as we were intrigued to see the palace of the Mughal emperors. Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the emperor who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned in the Agra Fort by his own son.
Only a small part of the Agra Fort is open to visitors (30%), the other 70% is occupied by the Indian army. It is definitely worth seeing it if you're in the area, it is well preserved in terms of its architecture and has a view on the Taj Mahal.
Conclusion: was it worth visiting?
Absolutely! We highly recommend going to the Taj Mahal, the architecture and symmetry is breathtaking. We didn't go to any other places around New Delhi as we only had a 3 day stopover but we were told that the Golden Triangle is a popular tourist circuit and a great way to see the top sites in New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.
Thank you for this post. Any idea why there was a decrease in visitors post pandemic? Interesting...