Mehtab Bagh

Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden, lies on the north bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, exactly across the water from the Taj Mahal. It was laid out by the Mughal emperor Babur in the early 16th century and is regarded as the last of eleven Mughal gardens laid out along the Yamuna, and it was later shaped to line up with the Taj Mahal, completed under Shah Jahan in the mid-17th century.

The garden is a square charbagh of about 300 by 300 metres, the same width as the Taj Mahal complex on the opposite bank. Over time floods and silt buried much of it, and it was largely forgotten until the Archaeological Survey of India began excavations in the 1990s. A popular story says Shah Jahan planned a black marble mausoleum for himself here, but historians regard this Black Taj as a myth.

Excavations uncovered a large octagonal pool on the central axis, which once reflected the Taj Mahal, along with the remains of pavilions, walkways, a baradari and fountains. A sandstone tower survives at the south-eastern corner. The ASI has replanted the garden with species recorded in Mughal times, such as fruit trees and flowering shrubs.

Mehtab Bagh is managed by the ASI and charges a modest entry fee, with higher rates for foreign visitors. It opens from sunrise to sunset. It is especially popular at sunset and on Fridays, when the Taj Mahal itself is closed but can still be seen across the river from here.

The 1994 dig and the octagonal fountain tank

The Archaeological Survey of India excavated Mehtab Bagh in 1994, with help from American researchers, and uncovered a large octagonal tank with 25 fountains on the garden's southern side, placed so the water reflected the Taj Mahal across the river. Restoration of the planting followed through the 1990s.

Floods shaped the garden's history. A letter from the young prince Aurangzeb to his father Shah Jahan is often cited as describing damage to the garden after a flood in 1652, though the date and details remain disputed. The site was then left to the river for centuries, which is why the layout survives mainly as foundations.

Today the garden is also a quiet spot for birds. Both resident and migratory species use the river bank, and red-naped ibises have been recorded in the garden.