Mehtab Bagh

Mehtab Bagh fell out of use after Shah Jahan's deposition in 1658 and was subsequently damaged by repeated Yamuna flooding through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which buried much of its original sandstone paving and octagonal pool under several metres of silt. The Archaeological Survey of India began systematic excavation of the site in 1996, uncovering the pool's octagonal form along with sections of a sandstone terrace and orchard walls consistent with Mughal-era charbagh design. A long-standing theory, popularised by some historians in the twentieth century, held that Shah Jahan intended to build a mirror-image black marble mausoleum for himself on this exact plot, a 'Black Taj' facing the white one across the river. Archaeological surveys of the site's foundations have not produced physical evidence supporting a second mausoleum, and most current Mughal-era scholarship treats the black-marble tomb as an unverified legend rather than a documented plan. The garden today functions primarily as a public viewpoint and a buffer zone protecting the Taj Mahal from erosion and pollution along the river's opposite bank.

Mehtab Bagh's grounds are flat and gravel-paved, making it one of the more physically accessible ASI sites in Agra, with no stairs between the entrance gate and the main viewing terrace. The Yamuna's water level fluctuates seasonally, and the garden's lower sections closest to the riverbank can become muddy or partially flooded during the July–September monsoon. Photography is unrestricted and tripods are permitted, unlike at the Taj Mahal itself, making this one of the few legal vantage points for a tripod-mounted, full-frame shot of the mausoleum. The site closes at sunset with no evening or night access, unlike the Taj Mahal's limited full-moon viewing sessions.

Mehtab Bagh's sunset viewing window, roughly 45 minutes before official closing, produces one of the most photographed images of the Taj Mahal available from any vantage point in Agra, with the mausoleum's marble catching orange light while the garden's dark foliage frames the foreground. The approach road from the main Agra-Delhi highway crosses the Yamuna via a narrow bridge that can back up with traffic in the late afternoon, so building in an extra 15–20 minutes is prudent. Combining Mehtab Bagh with Itmad-ud-Daulah's Tomb in a single loop makes sense geographically, since both sit on the eastern riverbank within a 10-minute auto-rickshaw ride of each other. Unlike the crowded western-bank approach to the Taj Mahal, this side of the river sees a fraction of the footfall, and the garden rarely feels crowded even in the October-to-March peak season.