The first thing you notice about Agra isn't the Taj Mahal. It's the weight of the air — heavy with diesel smoke, marigold garlands, and something older, something that clings to the sandstone like a memory refusing to fade. This is a city that has been capital, conquest, and afterthought, sometimes within the same century. Long before Shah Jahan stacked white marble into the world's most famous love letter, Agra was already ancient. Its story runs back through Hindu epics and Buddhist t...
