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Will there be an Agra without the Taj? Here, a song from an old film, My Fair Lady, comes to mind, in which a line goes – There will still be rain in Spain without you. Of course, there was an Agra before the Taj, and there, perhaps, will still be one without it, too. But it will be without its present sheen and its status will, most likely, diminish into a tiny dot on the map of India. Agra is almost synonymous with the Taj Mahal, the two spoken in the same breath.


The city, however, has changed since Akbar, third in the line of the great Mughals, decided to shift his Capital here from Lahore, now in Pakistan. The seams have bulged to enclose vast territories that lay beyond the farthest monuments built in those times and more. Industry, tourism, commerce, education have all contributed to its increasing importance and activity. Leather and footwear, handicrafts, manufacturing and fabrication are some of the larger economic sectors. Tourism, too, is one of the bigger contributors to the city’s financial kitty. Some of the hotels in the city can stand up to the best in the country and world.Infrastructure too has improved with excellent trains and roads connecting the city to the larger country. Increased economic strength of the people has attracted many global and Indian high-value brands to the city.


The best of all, for the millions of tourists to the city at least, is that with the reduction in threat perception and increased security, the Taj Mahal has been opened for night visits during the full moon period.