Taj Mahal Handicraft Walk: Explore True India with Artisans

Absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish! Right after booking, contact with our guide Arhaan was clear and friendly. He was on time and there were even some extra stops that provided very interesting information that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. When we told our hotel manager we were doing a handicraft tour, he talked it down (despite not knowing anything about our exact tour/company etc) and said “oh you can just go and do it on your own”. He was wrong! There is absolutely no way we could have done this on our own! We were invited into people’s homes, met locals who our guide knew, and encountered plenty of surprises along the way. There’s the opportunity to purchase souvenirs at a couple of stops but zero pressure to buy anything, which we appreciated. Truly appreciate this tour and highly recommend!

This was an amazing experience for me and my friends as we learnt in depth about the processes of how the handicrafts are manufactured here in Agra and the artisans that make them. My walk leader Kaleem made the walk fun and enjoyable and filled with a lot of relevant facts. Over all I highly recommend it.

I absolutely loved this tour as it gave me a real feel of how Indians lived away from the places that we call tourist traps. The people there were very friendly and our walk leader made us feel safe. We were welcomed to the humble houses of various artisans where they showed us their crafts. The best was that we could buy directly from there artisans and it just made me happy to support these hard working people.

The walk was full of insightful learnings. Different perspectives were shared through the lense of which we were made to observe the magnificent beauty of Taj Mahal. References about how it used to be in the past were also made. Overall, it was an experience one of its kind.

Kaleem made our morning at Taj Mahal come alive with his simple but effective storytelling.He contextualised and made modern references in a way that was relateable to the younger members of our retinue. His pace was perfect as was his overall welcoming warm energy. The same evening he took us on a walk through the local village and exposed us to some of the laborious handicrafts so painstakingly done even today by craftspersons who sadly live marginalised lives. For our western-oriented kin, it was an eye opener and although only a superficial sort of exposure, there was enough to plant seeds for conversations and reflections with them for months to come.

It's inspiring to hear the unknown stories behind one of the oldest cities of India. Agra Heritage Walks ignited curiosity within me to go and find out more about the history of my own city. They have a knack to connect both with adults and children. They helped me explore the city through architecture, food, music and poetry.

We had a great tour with Tahir Today, we saw the Taj Mahal with him and he taylored his explanations to us, what we knew about already and what we did not, our specific interests etc. He has in-depth knowledge of the monument and every aspect of the city, that made the experience memorable. He stroke the right balance of guiding us through the site and giving us space for photo breaks and time for ourselves. And mostly, he’s a great person and it was a pleasure to spend a few hours with him. Thankh’gs again Tahir !

These guys went above 5 stars. They helped me with transport to and from Agra. They put together 2 walks for me at short notice. And they use their tours as a way to spread wealth across the community away from the Taj Mahal. Very knowledgeable and expert guides. Thanks!

I participated to the Agra 101 tour the other day and I simply loved it!! Kaleem was extremely nice and knowledgeable, he showed me around his city telling me the history of it and some anecdotes, stopping to try tasty Indian food. I especially like the concept of this project: two brothers showing their city and their heritage from a less touristy point of view. Thank you so much!!!

Absolutely enjoyed my day in Agra with Taj Mahal, Red Fort and a lunch at the house of the two brothers. Tahir and his brother are lovely people and show you a very personal side of Agra, with lots of information around history and art. They also leave you enough personal space and provide a lot of empathy.