“There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have seen the Taj Mahal and love it, and those who have not seen the Taj Mahal and love it. I would like people to watch the Taj Mahal and fall in love with it”. – President Bill Clinton.
Taj Mahal has been on my list for too long however I wasn’t able to make up for it. I am sure many of us feel the same way about the Taj Mahal because we are not sure if it’s actually worth a visit destination. So recently I planned a trip to Agra and here is everything you need to know from my visit.
Date & Month of travel
I traveled in the month of November, Date-30th. The weather was cool during the mornings and evenings during this time.
Where to stay?
Always chose to stay within a km of the Taj Mahal. It would be helpful to reach early if you book a morning slot to visit. I stayed at this beautiful house name Coral House homestay. Read the detailed review of the property here.
COVID rules and Online booking?
Yes, due to COVID, only 5000 visitors are allowed in a day. So you need to book it early, either morning slot or evening. Tickets available are Rs 50 and Rs 250, the later one includes entrance to Mausoleum as well. You can book the tickets online from here. Wearing masks is mandatory inside the Taj Mahal.
Items not allowed inside Taj Mahal?
- Drone camera
- Eating and smoking are strictly prohibited inside Taj Mahal. Arms, ammunitions, fire, smoking items, tobacco products, liquor, eatables (Toffees), headphones, knives, wire, mobile charger, electric goods (except camera), Tripods are also prohibited.
- Don’t make noise inside the mausoleum.
- Videography not allowed inside the mausoleum
How to capture shots away from crowd?
So we booked a morning slot for ourselves. By 7 AM we were right inside the Taj Mahal, after completing all the checking process at the entrance.
The idea is to reach as early as possible, if you don’t need any photobombs, exactly like this picture !!
How was the experience at Taj Mahal?
The first word that came to my mind after getting the first glimpse of the Taj Mahal was, marvelous. I was totally awestruck by the beauty of this spectacular Mughal architecture. The best part of my visit was, there were hardly any people around. This happens rarely as the Taj Mahal is one of the busiest tourist destinations.
We entered from the western gate and this is how it looks like.
Once you enter from here, you need to walk for a few more minutes before you get a glimpse of the finest Mughal architecture. The complex was designated a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE in 1983.
This is a great point to click pictures as it has everything covered from the Garden to the reflection of the Taj Mahal into the water. After you cross the garden, you get one more step closer to this white marble beauty.
Here you will find a bench which is one more perfect spot for clicking pictures with Taj in the backdrop. You see, there are hardly any people around and which is why these are some of the rarest pictures with the Taj Mahal. There are many such pictures taking spots from different angles.
MEHMAN KHANA
As you keep moving more further, there are two rust-colored buildings, one of which is called MEHMAN KHANA
MAUSOLEUM
Keep walking further and you will reach the mausoleum. Now if you have taken Rs 250 ticket, then only you would be allowed to visit the mausoleum. One more important thing is you need to wear shoe covers to walk inside this area. Shoe covers are available inside at the cost of 10 each pair. No videography and photography are allowed inside the mausoleum so I couldn’t capture it.
You will get plenty of such spots to click pictures, sharing few more best shots captured with no people around. Since our visit was early in the morning, there was even fog all around which looked really beautiful with these rust-colored buildings.
Overall I would say its totally worth a visit, after all its one of the 7 wonders of the world. The only thing to make sure is to get yourselves away from the crowd and get some amazing pictures with the TAJ MAHAL.
** Don’t believe what they say, go and see it **
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