e memory the Taj was
built_]

The garden was redeemed from a hopeless tangle (into which it had
fallen), under the direction of Lord Curzon, who did so much to stay
ruin and devastation. It is laid out in a conventional style, one square
being devoted to roses, another to poinsettia, while long stretches of
foliage plants here and there, with a mass of dark green cypress trees,
give it a breadth of view that is enhanced by a marble avenue, leading
from the entrance to the tombs, the sweep of avenue being broken midway
by a marble seat from which a fine view of the Taj is afforded. Running
parallel were marble aqueducts which contained, at set intervals,
playing fountains; these were inactive, however, at the time of our
visits. One could return to the Taj day after day, as the subtle
influence of its beauty and its spiritual significance are ever present.
Sad indeed was the fate of the builder, Shah Jahan, who ruled from 1620
to 1658 and who was then deposed by his son, Aurangzeb. The latter
transferred the capital to Delhi, causing his father to languish seven
long years in a small suite of rooms in the palace at Agra as a
prisoner, his only companion a devoted daughter.

While the centre of attraction in Agra is the Taj Mahal, the fort,
palace, and Moti Musjid (Pearl Mosque) are of equal interest. Here we
see the impress of three rulers, Akbar (the grandson of the noted Mogul
king, Baber, and son of Humayun, both of whom lived at Agra), Jahangir,
his son, and Shah Jahan, his grandson.

Akbar removed to Agra, from the old capital Fatehpur-Sikri, about 1568,
but the only monuments that are now attributed to him are the massive
walls of the fort and the red palace. Jahangir built the palace which
bears his name, but as it is somewhat gloomy in appearance, his chief
claims to distinction as a builder are the tombs of Itimid-ud-Daulah and
Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. Shah Jahan built the palace which contains the
beautiful Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of Public Audience; the Diwan-i-Khas, or
Hall of Private Audience; the Shish Mahal, or Mirror Palace; the
Saman-Burj, known as the Octagon, or Jasmine Tower; the Mina Musjid, or
Gem Palace (the private mosque of the Emperor); with many other notable
edifices. The Moti Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, is furnished with a superb
exterior setting.

Having described similar halls in the palace at Delhi, I will only
briefly enumerate some distinguishing features of each of the buildings
just men