The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays

mountaingirl

is CLOSED ON FRIDAYS and the entry fees is Rs.750.00 for a foreigner (yes, if you can pass off as an Indian - then you pay Rs.25.00 only).

I found a surprising number of people who were unaware of this info, so I put it here. Some people here will agree with me I hope! :-)

oldhippie

mountaingirl
Thanks. I did not know of this as the last time I was at the Taj there were no fees. An Indian friend recently tried to pass off as a local and get in but someone followed him and his family and eventually made him pay the difference.

I think Rs750 is not a lot as long as the government is putting the money to good use.

Bill

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Alan D

What most people don't realise is that most of the charge is a local tax by the Agra municipal authorities. I hope some of that is being spent on cleaning up the area around the Taj.

oldhippie

Alan & Mountaingirl
Does any of this money go towards maintaining the monument itself? I read an article a while back about the marble cracking.

Bill

Alan D

Bill

I think 250 R's of the entrance fee goes to the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) whose job it is to look after all the historical monuments in India owned by the state. I would guess the money goes into a "pot" and is then allocated on a priority basis.

A French company was funding and was involved in maintenance work on the Taj, needed because the high pollution levels in Agra were damaging the marble. A lot of industry was moved out of the area in recent years. The French company pulled out of the project - I'm not sure why.

So it's anyone's guess how much of the entrance fee is actually spent on the Taj!

Tomi

I’ll take advantage of this general thread for a gratuitous rant I have spared this forum so far:
The Taj Mahal is the most overrated monument in the world.

First of all, it is that, a monument and not a building; there’s little room inside and hardly any structure to it; it is an urban sculpture. It is very pretty, yes, and it looks particularly gorgeous from the Fort in Agra (now THAT is a great complex), but don’t expect it to be a building, or it will surely disappoint you.

Pretty though it is, the Taj Mahal has several major problems:
1. It looks exactly like the photographs you have seen over and over. A visit adds hardly anything to the famous shape you already know. It takes 5 minutes to see. It lacks presence, and the hordes of tourists overwhelm it, not to mention the cost and the cattle herding.
2. The famous shape is a silhouette, not the beautiful three-dimensional entity you expect: walking around the Taj Mahal yields no further pleasure, it starts looking squat and lackluster, the minarets are too short and ugly, and you want to go back to the entrance to photograph it the way you want it to look (i.e. like the silhouette pictures you’ve seen). You start glancing at the mosque nearby, thinking that you must include it in the experience in order to get your money’s worth.
3. The more you approach it, the less you see; it is like a monolith, like the surface of the moon, where successive enlargements look identical to the whole. Its surface is covered with vegetable vine patterns, and every square inch is identical to every other square inch, not like the intricate Gothic cathedrals or Rajasthani forts, where new delights await you at every little corner.

Of course visiting the Taj Mahal is like visiting the Eiffel Tower, or Westminster Abbey, or Wall Street, or the Great Wall of China or the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The expectation of the visit practically guarantees awe, and these places are sacred cows whether you enjoy them or not. So I wouldn’t discourage anyone from a visit. Every time I come back from India people ask me about the Taj Mahal, and it sounds snobbish every time I say it was not among my top ten. But for me, honestly, it can’t compare with the Red Fort or Fatehpur Sikri or the Amber Fort or the Jama Masjid or countless other architectural gems in Rajasthan and around.

bijapuri

Wow, somehow I never knew it is closed on Friday- thanx MG, will make use of that.

Every time I have been to the Taj the experience has been very different. It all depends on me, in the end.

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lalooprasadyadav

Have to agree with Tomi to some extent. Because Mahal translates as Palace I had been expecting a large complex with lots of rooms since childhood. When I eventually got to see it I was disappointed with its size. Nonetheless, it is a very beautiful monument and worth seeing closeup. Looking forward to the day I can visit again.

wonderwomanusa

Oh, thank goodness I am not the only person underwhelmed by the Taj. Well, I suppose every visitor should see it one time, but what a lot of hype for a beautiful but static image.

I'll take those rock-cut temples, and lots of other decaying ruins and living temples around the subcontinent. Once at the Taj was enough for me.

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goldfish

We arrived before dawn, in low season, and just loved it. Yes, it looks like all the photos, but the dawn light glimmering off the marble was just amazing and seeing it with hardly anyone around was super cool. It was cool and quiet and the presence of the awesome monument was almost a meditation. Lovely.

Polo

Is the Taj still closed on fridays??? I was sorting out my trip to India and my 'planned' day would be a friday.

BTW does anyone know the opening hours in september?

edwardseco

One problem with the taj is that it was heavily looted, first by the Jats and then by what not. When I first visited the lower section was open and used to take naps and write graffiti (and carve it into the walls). You have to imagine what it was to get the close up cathedral effect. And it is certainly closed on Fridays to forens. Use google.com and specify under advances search a time constraint, eg. 6 months, in order to confirm. However, there are many small sites around Agra that are often overlooked. Some of these are punitively priced but not most. You can possibly get the map from the city tourist authority. Its probably still on the wall of the cafe at Hotel Sheela. Don't miss FS despite the fiecest touts in India..

edwardseco

Opening hours, I believe that is 6.00 AM India time if... However, photographers like to get in earlier and there are reports on those branches that a little charm, etc. works..

SHIMLA

Hats off to Tomi for having spoken the truth about the Taj!!

I remember my first visit there as a student way back in 1979; the Taj came as something of an anti-climax, after all the hype generated before the visit!! Even though it was my first visit, I had a feeling of deja vu, thanks to history text books, picture post cards and Hindi movies!

I'm sure many visitors today visit the Taj because they have to and not necessarily because they want to!

To get back to what Tomi says, its a monument, not a building. I'd go a step further and say that ultimately its a tomb !!

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guerik

Eh, the Pyramids of Egypt are also "just a bunch of tombs" and that's never stopped anyone from going.
I enjoyed visiting the Taj but it's far from being the most memorable moment of my trip, it was just cool to be that close to something you've only seen on TV and in books before..