Does the Taj Mahal light up at night? The full moon viewing

The official pages describe the Taj Mahal after dark in terms of the moon and not in terms of lamps. The tourism department's FAQ calls a night visit the silhouette of the structure against the dark sky and moonlight, full of peace and magic.⁶ Its homepage says the Taj is golden when the moon shines.⁷ Visitors who ask whether the Taj Mahal lights up at night are best served by the moon calendar, not a switch.

That is why night viewing is tied to the full moon. The program offers five nights a month: the full moon night, the two nights before it and the two nights after.¹ On the dark nights in between, the monument is closed to visitors after its daytime hours, which end 30 minutes before sunset.⁸ The pages do not give a reason for the arrangement, and a visitor should not invent one.

A different night show exists in Agra, and it is easy to confuse with the Taj. The light and sound show runs at Agra Fort, in Hindi from 6:30 pm to 7:15 pm and in English from 7:30 pm to 8:15 pm every day.⁹ If you were looking for the Taj Mahal light and sound show timings, those are the fort's. The monument itself has no such show in the official pages.

Two official sources describe the same program with different clocks. The tourism department gives the slots as 20:00 to 23:59.² The Archaeological Survey, which looks after the monument, writes 8:30 pm to 12:30 in eight batches of 50 for half an hour.¹⁸ The batch size and the half-hour length agree, and the start and end times do not, so read the time on your own ticket.

Booking differs too. The FAQ says night tickets can be booked seven days before the viewing date through the Archaeological Survey's payment website.¹⁹ The Survey's visitor page says the tickets are sold at its Agra Circle office at 22 The Mall, between 10 am and 6 pm, one day in advance.²⁰ The rules may have changed since either page was written, so check the current booking page before you plan the trip around a date.

The Survey page adds a cancellation rule. A night ticket can be cancelled at the same counter on the day of viewing up to 12 noon, with a charge of 25% of the ticket.²³ It also says the night program began on 28 November 2004 under an order of the Supreme Court of India, for five nights a month, except Fridays and Ramzan.¹⁷ If a date on your trip falls inside the window, treat the ticket as a firm commitment.