What's on in Agra, India through the year

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Rule

  Taj night viewing

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  The Taj opens after dark on the full moon and the two nights either side, never on a Friday and never during Ramadan. Tickets are sold only at the ASI office in Agra, a day ahead, in batches of fifty. Source ↗

Still on: Winter smog season (1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually))

Busy — Taj Mahotsav, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Taj Mahotsav

  18–27 FebMajor festivalCrowded

  Ten days of crafts, food stalls and evening concerts at Shilpgram, a few hundred metres from the east gate. It fills the hotels on Fatehabad Road, so the monument queues run longer all week. Source ↗

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Pre-monsoon heat

  20 Apr – 20 Jun · usuallyExtreme heat

  The plains bake through May and the marble is too hot to walk on barefoot by mid-morning. Everyone who can goes in at sunrise and then disappears indoors until the evening. Source ↗

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Pre-monsoon heat (20 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Monsoon on the Yamuna plain

  28 Jun – 20 Sep · usually

  The rains usually reach Agra at the end of June and the river behind the Taj actually fills. Fewest visitors of the year, and the light is either flat grey or the best you will get.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Pre-monsoon heat (20 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Monsoon on the Yamuna plain (28 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Monsoon on the Yamuna plain (28 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Monsoon on the Yamuna plain (28 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Diwali

  8 NovClosuresCrowdedRisk

  Offices shut for most of a week and Indian families travel, so the Taj is at its fullest on the days either side. Firecrackers land on air that is already heading the wrong way. Source ↗

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Diwali

• Hazard

  Winter smog season

  1 Nov – 31 Jan · usually

  Cold still air over the Doab holds in field smoke, brick kilns and traffic, and the monument can vanish from the far end of its own garden before ten. It is also what stains the marble. Source ↗

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Diwali (8 Nov)

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Taj night viewing (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter smog season (1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually))