Inside the Taj Mahal you see the building up close, in a crowd. From Mehtab Bagh, directly across the Yamuna, you see the whole thing at once — gateway to minarets, reflected in the river, in the evening light — usually with very few people around you. If you have time for only one thing besides the Taj itself, many visitors would say this is it.
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The Moonlight Garden
Mehtab means moonlight, and Mehtab Bagh is the Moonlight Garden. The Mughals lined both banks of the Yamuna at Agra with walled gardens, and this was one of them; tradition credits the first garden on the site to Babur, the founder of the dynasty.
Its layout is aligned exactly with the Taj Mahal across the water. Archaeological work on the site in the 1990s uncovered, among other things, a large octagonal pool positioned to hold the Taj's reflection. The garden was, in effect, a viewing platform for the tomb.
The Black Taj Legend
You will almost certainly be told that Shah Jahan planned a second Taj Mahal in black marble here, as his own tomb, linked to the white one by a bridge. The story goes back to the writings of the seventeenth-century French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.
It is a good story. The excavations found no evidence of foundations for a second mausoleum; what they found was a garden. Most historians now treat the Black Taj as legend. Shah Jahan was in the end buried beside Mumtaz Mahal in the white one.
When to Go
Late afternoon into sunset. The Taj faces north across the river towards Mehtab Bagh, and as the sun drops in the west the marble shifts through gold and pink. It is the best photograph of the building most visitors will get.
Mehtab Bagh is an Archaeological Survey of India site with its own ticket, separate from the Taj Mahal. Check timings and prices on the official ASI site, and do not cut sunset fine — the gates close around then. In winter, morning fog can hide the Taj entirely, so an evening visit is also the safer bet.
What to Know Before You Go
The garden itself is simple: lawns, paths and the ruins of Mughal structures. You are here for the view. The river level and colour change a great deal with the seasons — high and brown in the monsoon, low in the dry months — and so does how much reflection you get.
Bring mosquito repellent for the riverside at dusk. There is also a stretch of riverbank just outside the garden that people use as a free viewpoint; the view from inside is better and considerably more peaceful.
Fitting It Into Your Day
Mehtab Bagh is on the far bank of the Yamuna, the same side as Itimad-ud-Daulah and Chini ka Rauza, so the natural afternoon is all three in that order, ending at Mehtab Bagh for sunset. It fits either our one-day or two-day itinerary.
On a Friday, when the Taj Mahal is closed, Mehtab Bagh is one of the best ways to still see it.
Dinner After Sunset
Sunset at Mehtab Bagh leaves you at the end of the sightseeing day, and that is the moment for a long dinner. Tajnuma is back on the Taj Mahal's side of the river, on Fatehabad Road in Tajganj, and serves until midnight every day. The kitchen is entirely vegetarian and Mughlai; see the menu or book on +91 90688 89658.
