Taj Mahal Sunrise and sunset Tour

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Taj Mahal, Agra 282001 India

The Taj was built by Shah Jahan as a memorial for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. The death of Mumtaz left the emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey virtually overnight. Construction of the Taj began the following year; although the main building is thought to have been built in eight years, the whole complex was not completed until 1653. Not long after it was finished, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb and imprisoned in Agra Fort, where for the rest of his days he could only gaze out at his creation through a window. Following his death in 1666, Shah Jahan was buried here alongside his beloved Mumtaz.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Agra Fort Rakabgani, Agra 282003 India

Construction along the bank of the Yamuna River was begun by Emperor Akbar in 1565 on the site of an earlier fort. Further additions were made, particularly by his grandson Shah Jahan, using his favourite building material – white marble. The fort was built primarily as a military structure, but Shah Jahan transformed it into a palace, and later it became his gilded prison for eight years after his son Aurangzeb seized power in 1658.

The ear-shaped fort’s colossal double walls rise more than 20m and measure 2.5km in circumference. The Yamuna River originally flowed along the straight eastern edge of the fort, and the emperors had their own bathing ghats here. It contains a maze of buildings, forming a city within a city, including vast underground sections, though many of the structures were destroyed over the years by Nadir Shah, the Marathas, the Jats and finally the British, who used the fort as a garrison. Even today, much of the fort is used by the military and is off-limits to the general public.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Itmad-ud-Daula, Moti Bagh, Agra, Uttar Pradesh 282006, India

Mughal emperor Jahangir, the son of Akbar the Great, conferred the title of Itimad-ud-Daulah on Mirza Ghiyas Beg, the father of his beloved wife Noor Jahan. But the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah along that of his wife Asmat Jahan was built by their daughter Noor Jahan from 1622 to 1628. The grandeur and magnificence of the mausoleum is admired so much that it is considered a precursor or the draft of the Taj Mahal and therefore, called the Baby Taj or the Jewel Box.

Duration: 1 hour