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Photo: Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The first Mughal garden, built by the first Mughal emperor, Babur.
The Aram Bagh is the oldest Mughal garden in India, originally built by Emperor Babur, the first Mughal emperor, in 1526, located about five kilometers northeast of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Babur was temporarily buried there before being interred in Kabul.
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बत्तीस खंबा Battīs Khambā, literally "32 pillars"
An octagonal three-storey tower topped by a chhatri.
A memorial dedicated to the Prime Minister of Shah Jahan, Allama Afzel Khal Mullah Shukrullah of Shiraz, notable for its dome of blue glazed tiles.
This was the temporary burial place of Babur. Later, his mortal remains were transferred to Kabul. It has four corner towers and follows the prototype of the nearby Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula, but lacks the marble finish. It lies in ruins and is seldom visited by tourists.
Empress Nur Jahan built the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, sometimes called the Baby Taj, for her father, Ghias-ud-Din Beg, the Chief Minister of Emperor Jahangir. Small in comparison to many other Mughal-era tombs, it is sometimes described as a jewel box. Its garden layout and use of white marble, pietra dura, inlay designs and latticework presage many elements of the Taj.
Kachpura Masjid
A former mosque in northern Agra, partly in shambles. As per one inscription, it was built in 937 AH (1530-31) during the rule of Humayun, although some claim that it was actually built in 1565 by Haji Begum, a wife of Akbar, in memory of her father. Regardless, the mosque is made of brick and limestone. Its façade bears five arches. A dome tops the central nave, and double-aisled wings on either side of it.
An octagonal pool is placed at the centre of the garden, which lets visitors see an amazing reflection of the Taj Mahal during moonlight, without the crowds of tourists. The garden was built in the 16th century by Emperor Babur, and it is also referred to as the "Moonlight Garden". Alternatively, there is the ADA Taj Mahal View Point to the right of the entrance: the view of the Taj is every bit as lovely (perhaps more so, since the barbed wire fence surrounding the gardens will be beneath you).