Agra: Taj Mahal Guided Tour with Photography & Rental Saree

Rent the outfit rather than buy it

The Taj photographs better with colour in front of it — that is a straightforward fact about a white marble building — and this tour handles the clothes as a rental rather than expecting you to buy a saree you will never wear again.

Your guide takes you to a local shop first, where you choose from sarees and kurta-pyjamas. Renting is cheap; buying is an option if you fall for something.

Getting it on

The shop will drape the saree for you, which is necessary — a saree is six metres of unstitched cloth and nobody manages it unaided the first time. Allow twenty minutes.

Kurta-pyjama for men is simpler and honestly just as effective in a photograph.

What photographs well

Strong, saturated colour. Red, deep pink, mustard, royal blue and emerald all read beautifully against white marble; white, cream and pale grey disappear into it. Mirror work and zari catch the low sun.

The frames your guide will put you in: the Diana bench on the central axis, the reflection in the long water channel, the arches of the Darwaza-i-Rauza gateway where the red sandstone sets off the marble, and the mosque colonnade on the west side.

Sunrise is the light and the empty axis; late afternoon is warmer and the crowd is thinning.

The Taj itself

Your guide covers the history as you go: Shah Jahan began it in 1632 after Mumtaz Mahal died bearing their fourteenth child; the calligraphy cut in increasing sizes so it reads evenly from the ground; the pietra dura of dozens of stones per flower; and the four minarets tilted outward so an earthquake would drop them clear of the tomb.

Three options

Guided tour without tickets or rental; with tickets and no rental; or all-inclusive with the rental saree and tickets.

Practical

Three hours. The Taj is closed on Fridays. No tripods or drones inside; everything is shot handheld.