Mehtab Bagh (Agra)

India / Uttar Pradesh / Agra Cantonment / Agra
 park, interesting place, Mughal garden
The first Mughal Emperor, Babur, laid out this garden which is regarded as the first Mughal charbagh garden in the Subcontinent. It lies directly opposite the Taj Mahal on the east bank of the Yamuna, leading to speculation that it is the site selected by Emperor Shahjahan, Babur's great-great grandson, for a planned Taj Mahal in black marble to mirror the white Taj. Shahjahan was known to keep his plans secret.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm0cgGP3Y2E
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehtab_Bagh
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   27°10'47"N   78°2'31"E

Comments

  • Saw it on tv once that this place was supposed to be home to a black taj ,the exact replica of the white Taj we know on the other side of Yamuna.
  • The name of this garden in Mehtab Bagh. The garden was always there and not excavated recently. But the octagonal structure at its very end, right on the river and symmetrically opposite the Taj, is a recent excavation and thought to be the site of the legendary black Taj which never got built.
  • The markup for this place should be changed from 'A Mughal Garden recently excavated' to 'Mehtab Bagh'. Mehtab Bagh has been the name of this well-known Mughal garden for centuries, and it is not 'recently excavated' as the current name suggests.
  • The foundations by the river are the remains of a pavilion from which Shah Jahan would view the Taj Mahal across the river. This was probably intended for his entirely private use, from here he could have watched the building as it was being built. The name Moonlight garden has been ascribed to this place, possibly he used this as a place of contemplation after the completion of the Taj Mahal but it is equally possible he ceased using it in later years. Certainly it became overgrown and flooding from the river undermined the viewing pavilion's foundations. The Black Taj Mahal is a fantasy, even if Shah Jahan had concieved of such a structure there simply isn't the space for a mirror image of the Taj Mahal to be built here.
  • It is believed that Shah Jahan planed to build a pure black Taj mahel which would look like the shade of white Taj mahel. But black marble cost many times more then white marbles and giant part of his treasure about to expend, so finally he postpone the plan. But Shah Jahan did not leave anything to proof this story, and this garden remain mysterious.
  • This garden was laid by Babar, as documented in the Baburnama. Shahjehan chose the site opposite the garden for the Taj. The garden was not laid by him. It's also just conjecture that he intended to build the Black Taj here. It's just a rumour of history.
  • Mahtab Bagh was devloped at the time of the Taj Mahal. The plot of the garden developed by Babur was adjacent to left side of Mahtab Bagh, and it was named Bagh-e-Hasht-Bahist (garden of eight paradise). An old map which indicates plots of the river bank at Agra is available in the archives of Jaipur for proof. It is advised that such sensitive information must be posted after proper research otherwise it confuses others.
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This article was last modified 11 years ago