Shah Jahan and his wife in whose memory the Taj was built
The garden was redeemed from a hopeless tangle (into which it had fallen), under the direction of Lord Curzon, who did so much to stay ruin and devastation. It is laid out in a conventional style, one square being devoted to roses, another to poinsettia, while long stretches of foliage plants here and there, with a mass of dark green cypress trees, give it a breadth of view that is enhanced by a marble avenue, leading from the entrance to the tombs, the sweep of avenue being broken midway by a marble seat from which a fine view of the Taj is afforded. Running parallel were marble aqueducts which contained, at set intervals, playing fountains; these were inactive, however, at the time of our visits. One could return to the Taj day after day, as the subtle influence of its beauty and its spiritual significance are ever present. Sad indeed was the fate of the builder, Shah Jahan, who ruled from 1620 to 1658 and who was then deposed by his son, Aurangzeb. The latter transferred the capital to Delhi, causing his father to languish seven long years in a small suite of rooms in the palace at Agra as a prisoner, his only companion a devoted daughter.
While the centre of attraction in Agra is the Taj Mahal, the fort, palace, and Moti Musjid (Pearl Mosque) are of equal interest. Here we see the impress of three rulers, Akbar (the grandson of the noted Mogul king, Baber, and son of Humayun, both of whom lived at Agra), Jahangir, his son, and Shah Jahan, his grandson.