Agra

An emperor built it for his wife and the work took twenty two years. Semi precious stone set into the marble makes the pattern, and the light keeps changing the colour.

Built of red sandstone, this fort housed the Mughal emperors. The room survives where a deposed emperor watched the Taj through a window.

A garden across the river shows the Taj reflected in the water. Few people come and the light falls straight on it toward dusk.

Smaller than the Taj yet more densely inlaid, which earned it the name of jewel box. The technique used here passed on to the Taj later.

An emperor built this as a new capital and abandoned it after fourteen years for want of water. The buildings survive almost untouched.

Marble is hollowed and cut stone is fitted into it while visitors watch. Some families state that they descend from the craftsmen who built the Taj.

Entering as the gate opens shows the marble in a pink tone. Fewer people are inside then and the front steps stand empty.

A rowed boat gives a side view of the Taj from the river. Low water stops the boats and leaves only the bank to walk.

Bears taken from those who made them dance are cared for here. Most were treated for the wound left where a rope passed through the nose.

Lanes behind the fort crowd with shops selling wedding trim and bangles. So narrow are the lanes that a passing motorbike puts everyone against the wall.

Emperor Akbar's resting place, completed by his son Jahangir in 1613. Past a south gate topped with four white marble minarets, deer and blackbuck graze the broad lawns. The real grave lies in a dark underground chamber where every sound echoes long.

Built in the 1630s for a Persian poet who was Shah Jahan's minister, this tomb was faced in glazed tiles. Most have fallen or faded, but the surviving fragments still flash blue and yellow. It lies a short way upriver from Itimad ud Daulah, so the two pair up.

Laid out around 1528 by Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty, and reckoned the earliest surviving Mughal garden in India. Tradition says his body rested here before being carried to Kabul. Its channels and terraces survive in plain form, and visitors are few.

The Friday mosque that Shah Jahan's daughter Jahanara built in 1648, its red sandstone domes banded in zigzags of white marble. Agra Fort railway station is right opposite, handy before a departure. Bazaar lanes wrap around it, hiding the entrance.

A wide lake beside the highway toward Delhi, also called Keetham Lake, noisy with migratory birds through the winter. A path circles the water past low viewing towers. Under an hour from Agra by car, it is a favourite dawn trip the day after the Taj.

A small farming village behind Mehtab Bagh where residents lead walks through their lanes. The route passes a ruined Mughal-era mosque and old wells, then ends at the field edge with the Taj across the river. Children tag along pointing the way.

A Sikh temple near Sikandra marking the spot where the ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, gave himself up to Mughal troops. Its name refers to a rainwater reservoir dug in the early 17th century. Its community kitchen feeds visitors rice and dal.

The mausoleum of the Radha Soami faith's founder, begun in 1904 and still being carved in marble today. Fruit and flowering vines are cut in relief across every wall. Because it is a working site, you watch masons chiselling at arm's length.

A reserve on the Chambal River southeast of Agra, home to gharials and river dolphins. Small boats take you close to gharials basking on sandbanks. It is far enough to need a full day, and winter is the season for birds and basking reptiles.

A market strung along the main road through the cantonment, heavy on leather shoes and clothing. After dark, chaat and snack carts line the kerb and the street fills with locals. Its roads are wider than Kinari Bazaar's, so walking is easier.

Trails through woodland east of the Taj Mahal, with several spots where the dome shows between the trees. A watchtower on a rise frames the whole mausoleum above the canopy. It is far quieter than inside, and peacocks and monkeys wander onto the paths.

Legend makes this town Krishna's childhood home; it is a day trip north of Agra. At Banke Bihari temple a curtain before the deity is drawn shut and reopened every few minutes, to a shout from the crowd. At Holi the lanes jam with powder-throwing crowds.