Mehtab Bagh (Garden) is located on the left bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, India and is opposite to the Taj Mahal. The garden complex is a huge square measuring around 300 meters by 300 meters. It is in straight alignment with the Taj Mahal. The name Mehtab Bagh means “The Moonlit Garden”. This is a very special garden of all the gardens of the monuments of Agra. Your tour to the Taj Mahal is incomplete unless you see the Taj Mahal from the Mehtab Garden.

Mehtab Bagh is a charbagh located to the north of the great Taj Mahal across the peaceful river Yamuna. It was designed as an integral part of the Taj complex in the riverfront terrace pattern. It has a large octagonal pool in the centre of the terrace that would reflect the image of the great white monument. Thus it was the place where the view of the Taj Mahal could be seen in the water. Click here to see the slideshow of the Mehtab Bagh View of the Taj Mahal.

History of Mehtab Bagh: Mehtab Bagh was built in the period of 1631 to 16 35 A.D. on the area of 25 acres of land. The land was transformed into a moonlit garden. It had white plaster pathways, breezy pavilions, various pools, fragrant flowers and beautiful fountains. The intention of building this garden was to view the Taj Mahal in the pleasant moonlight. This was the eleventh and the last garden built by the Mughal at the river side.

Architecture of the Garden: The charbagh garden has the Persian-style of four gardens with fountain at the centre. It has the remains of the octagonal pool which was the place of view of the Taj Mahal and there was a northern structure which has a stepped waterfall to fill the pool with the water of river Yamuna. The garden towards the north has the typical square, cross-axial plan with a square pool in its centre.

Flood in River Yamuna: During the Mughal time around in 1652 A.D. there was flood in the river Yamuna which ruined the beauty of the garden to a great extent. The southern boundary wall and the south-eastern burj were visible on the surface. There were four sandstone towers marking the corners of the garden, however, only the south-eastward one is remaining till this date.

Great Maintenance by ASI: The Archaeological Survey of India has done a great job in 1996-1997. The excavations carried out by the department revealed the following unrevealed parts of the garden.

1. A Huge Octagonal Pool with 25 Fountains
2. A Small Central Tank
3. The remains of an Eastern Baradari
4. The remains of the Northern Gateway
5. The remains of the boundary wall has also been traced on the north and eastern sides

There is evidence of this in the letter of Aurangzeb, addressed to the emperor Shah Jahan stating the condition of this garden after the flood.

Myth of the Black Stoned Taj Mahal: The archaeological excavations found no such remains of the black stone Taj Mahal.

Horticulture Wing of ASI: Great work done again by the horticulture wing of ASI by developing a traditional Mughal garden of Charbagh pattern as revealed from the excavations.

1.  Great study has been done about the gardens in the Mughal era.
2. 81 plants that were featured in the Mughal horticulture are planted in this Mughal garden especially Guava, Maulshri, Kaner, Hibiscus, Citrus Fruit Plants, Neem, Bauhinia, Ashoka and Jamun. Most of these have bright colored flowers that would shine in the moonlight.
3. The herbage is also arranged in the order of its height. Tall trees are followed by the shorter ones, followed by shrubs and finally the small flowering plants.
4. The weaker species are constantly weeded.
5. The plants not suited to the sandy soil are replaced by the suitable ones.

Types of plant in the Mehtab Bagh: There are more than 40 plant species which are grown in the Mughal garden.A few of them can be listed below:

1. Azadirachta indica (Neem)
2. Mimusops elengi (Molsari)
3. Morus alba (Shehtoot)
4. Psidium guava (Amrud)
5. Eugenia jambolana (Jamun)
6. Hibiscus (Gurhal)
7. Citrus (Nimbu)
8. Jatropha (Ratnajot)
9. TMC (Chandni)
10. Nerium odorum (Lal Kaner)
11. Thevetia nerifolia (Peela Kaner)
12. Centlam album (Chandan)
13. Lylies
14. Pomegranate (Anar)
15. Ashok

The garden has been developed to have a green belt in order to mitigate pollution around the Taj Mahal.

Photographer and Writer: Nishidha

Slideshow of pictures of Mehtab Bagh (Moonlit Garden)

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