Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra (Agra)

Akbar's Tomb at Sikandra is the great emperor's own mausoleum, a five-storey tomb in a vast garden on the edge of Agra. Here are its timings, fees and highlights.

Akbar's Tomb stands at Sikandra on the right side of the Agra–Mathura road, about 10 km from Agra. Akbar began the tomb in his lifetime, completing it up to the first storey and laying out the garden. His son Jahangir finished it, and it was completed in 1613. The mausoleum is unusual among Mughal tombs: instead of a single dome it rises in five diminishing storeys of arcaded red sandstone, crowned by an open white marble court.

The real grave lies in a dark vaulted crypt below ground level, reached by a sloping passage from the south. The top storey is an open-air court enclosed by marble screens, with a false cenotaph carved with arabesques, flowers and the ninety-nine names of God. Quranic texts are inscribed along the vestibule to the crypt. The tomb stands at the centre of a large charbagh garden entered through four gateways on the cardinal points.

The southern gateway, the main entrance, is a monument in its own right, with inlaid geometric patterns of white marble and coloured stone and four white marble minarets at its corners. UP Tourism links the building's mix of styles to Akbar's broad religious outlook. The grounds are spacious and far less crowded than the Taj. Allow an hour, and combine it with Mariam's Tomb, about 1 km away, if time allows.