Taj Mahal needs no introduction, it’s a magnificent white marble monument built in the memory of Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653.
There are so many breathtaking and incredible historical sites but the experience of viewing Taj Mahal is second to none. We have visited Taj Mahal before but not with our daughter and ever since she knew that Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the pride of India, she was very keen to visit the Taj.
To make it a special moment, we timed our road trip from Bangalore to view the Taj Mahal during a full moon night.
We reached Agra on 20th April 2016 and had two days to admire the beauty of Taj. Hotel Taj Khema of UP Tourism was our choice for the stay. The hotel is very close to the East gate of Taj and the mound of Khema offers a breathtaking view of the monument. It is said that the mud, which was dug up to make the foundation of Taj, was collected here and over a period of time formed the hillock now called Taj Khema.
Our daughter got the first glimpse of the Taj at 4PM and she fell in love with it. We decided to come back again at night to capture the moon lit Taj.
Next stop was the sound & light show of Agra fort. Though the voice-overs were great but the story line could have been better.
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| This was shot using a tripod, ISO 200, 50mm at 13 sec exposure |
Early morning:
Next day, we got up early to capture the morning mood of Taj. Ticket window is at a walking distance from the hotel and opens 30 minutes before sunrise so getting up early gives you some incredible visuals. With all the formalities, we were inside Taj by 6:30 AM.
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| Why to look back when such a beauty is in front of you... |
The beauty of this monument mesmerized us. There were so many angles and compositions to be seen and captured and 3 hours flew like just few minutes.
Full moon night:
First things first, you need to buy night viewing tickets before hand. Ticket sale opens one-day prior and there are agents who book the tickets for you with some minimal charges. Khema folks booked the tickets for us.
Remember to carry your govt issued identity cards like passport, driving license etc.
For night viewing, you are only allowed to view the Taj from the red sand stone platform of the main gate, which is almost 150 meters away from the monument. Security personnel take batches of 50 from Shilpgram to the East gate in their own vehicles.
Tripods, video cameras and cell phones are not allowed and you have to go through three levels of tight security. However, free lockers are available at each security point to keep your valuables.
We were aware of all these restrictions so not having a tripod was a big challenge. My wife gave a nice idea of taking her woolen shawl, which can be used as a flexible yet sturdy platform to keep the camera steady.
Our slot was at 10:30 PM and as soon as our group entered the main gate, I rushed to capture the moon lit Taj. If you think that the Taj is glowing in moonlight you are mistaken, as there is no artificial light source to make it glow. Though the experience is beyond words but difficult to capture through lens. I could see disappointment in some faces as they were trying to capture it with their camera flashlights.
The next challenge for me was to autofocus as there was only a tiny bulb, dimly lit inside the Taj. I was not very sure if the camera would autofocus at such a long distance. I gave it a try and to my surprise, my Nikon D750 could focus on the spot even on such a low light.
One mistake I did was forgot to take my shutter release cable but found a work around by using camera’s self-timer.
So I kept the shawl as a platform, focused the subject and took some long exposures and the final results were amazing.
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Taj Mahal on full moon night, 21st April 2016
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Taj is currently going through mud therapy cleansing to fight against the after effects of modern day pollution, so scaffoldings have been put around three minarets yet the beauty of Taj is unmatched.
Our visit to Taj was an experience that can’t be expressed in words but here is a humble attempt to share it with you through our lens.
To see my other road trip pictures, please click here.
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