Heritage conservationist Amita Baig in conversation with research scholar Sarthak Malhotra on how the monument's fame has eclipsed the living spaces and residential areas around it.

With over four decades of experience in cultural heritage management, Amita Baig has significantly contributed to preserving and promoting India's rich historical legacy. As the Executive Director of World Monuments Fund India, she had spearheaded numerous restoration and conservation projects, such as the restoration of Mughal Gardens in Agra and the historic Jaisalmer Fort.
Sarthak Malhotra is a PhD research student in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, whose work focuses on heritage, environment, archaeology, and religion in Agra, with particular attention to the Taj Mahal.

The Mute Eloquence of the Taj Mahal, curated by historian Rana Safvi, positions the Taj itself as a ‘speaking’—though ironically silent—agent through a comprehensive visual narrative, with works spanning from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century.