IARF’s new (2009) homepage banner

The new page header for the IARF site, soon to be seen on all pages, shows one entrance of the Diwan-i-Khas — the ornate, single-storey Hall of Private Audience of the enlightened third Mughal Emperor of India, Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605) in his palace & royal city of Fatehpur Sikri. (Visible at right is part of the famous central pillar, a single finely-carved block of stone)

Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri in 1570, in Sikri, the hometown of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, to honor him for his prophecy of a successor to Akbar (his son the next emperor, Jahangir). Regarded as Akbar's crowning architectural legacy, it remained the empire's capital until 1585.

It shows a combination of influences from Hindu & Jain architecture hand in hand with Islamic elements, reflecting its significance for the history of interfaith endeavour:-
it was here that Akbar had representatives of different religions discuss their faiths.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatehpur_Sikri

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'The city rose in less than five years. The chronicles record the incredible speed with which it swelled & prospered: trade blossomed, merchants from all over Asia set up bases and the caravanserai were so packed that a visiting party of Portuguese priests complained of the noise. But as well as a centre of trade, Fatehpur Sikri soon became a philosophical laboratory for Akbar's spiritual enquires. Holy men from all of India's religions were invited to the city to make the case for their particular understanding of the metaphysical, including the party of Portuguese priests from Goa.

'The room where these discussions took place - the Diwan-i-khas - still stands completely intact.... Akbar would sit on silken cushions raised on the central platform - thus proclaiming his position as the axis mundi, the central pillar of the Mughal Empire - as holy men of four competing faiths knelt at the ends of the walkways debating the merits of their conceptions of spirituality.

'Akbar's thesis was that "the pursuit of reason" rather than "reliance on the marshy land of tradition" was the proper way to address religious disputes. Attacked by traditionalists who argued in favour of instinctive faith in the Islamic tradition, Akbar told his trusted lieutenant Abu'l Fazl: "The pursuit of reason and rejection of traditionalism are so brilliantly patent as to be above the need of argument. If traditionalism were proper, the prophets would merely have followed their own elders [and not come with new messages]." Taking note of the fabulous diversity of religious beliefs in India - Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Parsees, Jews & atheists - Akbar laid the foundations for the secularism & religious neutrality of the modern Indian state'.

by William Dalrymple
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/asia/the-city-of-emperors-565033.html