This is grainy because I had to shoot it with my point & shoot digital camera. I was not allowed to bring in a tripod, which was necessary to use my SLR. I had to move the ISO to 800 to get this. The Taj is open for viewing two nights before, on the full moon and two nights after. Tickets must be bought in advance. They require your age, birth date and sex to be printed on the tickets. The groups are limited to 50 and no more than 8 groups a night. Cloudy nights...no viewing and no refunds (about $19 for foreigners). You meet 30 minutes in advance of your time to be checked in. Then we were all transported by buses to near the front gate. We were then processed through metal detectors, subject to a physical frisk by an army officer and all cameras had to be x-rayed. No cell phones allowed. We then walked to the gate and were allowed to the end of the gate entrance just before the reflecting ponds. From the time we arrived at the security screening to the time we leave the Taj Mahal is no more than 30 minutes. In fact a timer went off to signal that we needed to leave. Unlike during the day, it was very quiet save for the Muslim calling for prayer in the distance. If you plan to visit the Taj, plan your trip so you can also see it at night.
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