The Royal Palace
Shunning the Hindu tradition of aligning towns with the cardinal points (as dictated by ancient canonical texts on architecture, the Shilpa Shastras ), Akbar chose to construct his new capital following the natural features of the terrain. This is why the principal thoroughfare, town walls, and many of the most important buildings inside it (including the mint, treasury, baths and caravanserai) face southwest or northeast. The mosque and most private apartments, on the other hand, do not follow the main axis, but face west towards Mecca, according to Muslim tradition, with the palace crowning the highest point on the ridge

Although unused and uninhabited since its abandonment, the main Royal Palace and court complex (daily dawn to dusk; Rs460 [Rs10]), remains largely intact, thanks to extensive restoration work carried out by British archeologists before Independence. The entrance is via the ASI ticket kiosk at the centre of the site. Official guides offer their services at the booking office for around Rs75-100

Diwan-i-Am
The logical place to begin a tour of the palace complex, whose layout is thought to have been inspired by the form of a Moghul camp, is the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience), at the far northeast edge of the enclosure (follow the walkway from the ticket booth). Surrounded by colonnades, cloisters and exquisite pierced-stone jali screens, this was where important festivals were held, and where citizens could exercise their right to petition the king, whose throne would have occupied the raised pavilion at its west side. Note the position of the royal platform in relation to the enclosure's main entrance, set at an angle which forced the emperor's subjects to approach him from the side in an attitude of humility.

The Diwan-i-Khas courtyard
An insignificant seeming doorway in the northwest corner of the Diwan-i-Am leads to a second courtyard, at the top of which stands the Hall of Private Audience, or Diwan-i-Khas . The centrepiece of this chamber is an extraordinary carved column known as the Throne Pillar , supporting a large circular platform from which four balustraded bridges radiate outwards. Seated upon this throne, the emperor would hold discussions with representatives of diverse religions - orthodox Muslim leaders ( ulema ), Jesuit priests from Goa, Hindu brahmins, Jains and Zoroastrians - ranged around the walls of the balcony. Through such discussions, Akbar sought to synthesize India's religions and the pillar symbolizes this project by incorporating motifs drawn from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Eventually, however, the ulemas became alienated by the discussions held here and instigated an uprising, which Akbar ruthlessly crushed in 1581. Thereafter, the emperor evolved a concept of divine kingship, which the overall architecture of the Diwan-i-Khas, with its axial pillars radiating from a central point, serves to underline.

Access to the pillar and balconies is via steps on the exterior of the building. Close by lies the three-roomed Treasury , its brackets embellished by mythical sea creatures, guardians of the treasures of the deep; it was apparently used to play the game of ankh michauli (hide and seek), the origin of the building's other name. Next to it is the Astrologer's Seat, a small pavilion embellished with elaborate Jain carvings.

In the middle of the courtyard, separating the Diwan-i-Khas from the buildings on the opposite (south) side of the complex, is the Pachisi Court , a giant stone board for the game known as pachisi (or chawpai ), which is similar to ludo. Akbar is said to have been a fanatical player, using slave girls dressed in colourful costumes as live pieces. Abu'l Fazl, the court chronicler, related that "[at] times more than two hundred persons participated in [ pachisi ] and no one was allowed to go home until he had played sixteen rounds. This could take up to three months. If one of the players lost his patience and became restless, he was made to drink a cupful of wine. Seen superficially, this appears to be just a game. But His Majesty pursues higher objectives. He weighs up the talents of his people and teaches them to be affable."

House of the Turkish Sultana
Immediately southwest of the pachisi board, the Anup Talao Pavilion , also known as the House of the Turkish Sultana , is thought to have been the palace of one of Akbar's favourite wives, the Sultana Ruqayya Begum. With balconies and Kashmiri-style woodcarvings, this exquisite building betrays Persian, Turkish and even Chinese influences, and may have been a hammam (bath) or pleasure pavilion. Legend has it that the great musician Mian Tansen once sang Deepak , the raag of fire, on its central dais. So effective was his performance that he grew hotter and hotter, until his daughter had to come to the rescue by performing the rain raag, Malhar . Understandably nervous at this great responsibility, she faltered on the seventh note of the scale, thereby creating one of the most famous and stirring raags of north India - Mian ki Malhar . Happily, the raag had the desired effect; rain fell, and Tansen was saved. The southern aspect overlooks the Anup Talao or "Peerless Pool" where, on a central dais surrounded by perfumed water, Akbar is believed to have taken repose.

The Daulat Khana and Panch Mahal
Facing the Turkish Sultana's house from the other side of the gardens are Akbar's private quarters, the Daulat Khana (Abode of Fortune). These comprise a series of buildings distinguished by exquisite stone jali screens, elaborate brackets, broad eaves, and columns mounted on carved bell-shaped pedestals. The room on the ground floor with alcoves in its walls was the emperor's library, where he would be read to (he himself was illiterate) from a collection of 50,000 manuscripts he allegedly took everywhere with him. Behind the library, the beautiful imperial sleeping chamber, the Khwabgah (House of Dreams), is decorated with faded inscriptions of Persian verse.

One of Fatehpur Sikri's most famous structures, the Panch Mahal or Five-Storeyed Palace, looms northwest of here. The palace tapers to a final single kiosk and is supported by 176 columns of varying designs; the ground floor contains 84 pillars - an auspicious number in Hindu astrology. At one time, the Panch Mahal also had stone lattice screens, which would have been augmented by layers of dampened khas , a scented grass still harvested and used to cool verandas throughout northern India.

The women's quarters
Next to the Daulat Khana, a courtyard garden reserved for the zenana , the ladies of the harem, signals the start of the women's area of the palace complex. The adjoining Sunahra Makan (Golden House) is variously thought to have been the home of the emperor's mother or the palace of one of Akbar's wives - hence its alternative names of the Palace of the Christian Queen and Mariam's House - although no record exists of Akbar's marriage to a Christian called Mariam. Once adorned with gilded murals, the only ornamentation that survives are some inscriptions of verse penned by Abu'l Fazl.

Solemnly presiding over the whole complex, the main harem, known as Jodhbai's Palace , blends elements of traditional Islamic architecture with Hindu influences from Gujarat and Gwalior, incorporating an elegant tulip motif characteristic of Fatehpur Sikri. Surrounding the central courtyard are four self-contained raised terraces; those on the north and south sides are surmounted by unusual roofs, thought to imitate the shape of bamboo and thatch, with traces of blue-glazed tile that forms a striking, distinctly Persian counterpoint to the building's beautiful red local sandstone. The Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), a small screened tower with a delicately carved chamber, was designed to catch the evening breeze, while a covered walkway gave the imperial ladies of the court access to a lake which has now dried up.

The third women's palace, part of the Haram Sara (Imperial Harem) is called Birbal's Palace - a misnomer, as Birbal, Akbar's favourite courtier, was a man and would have been most unwelcome in this area. It may in fact have been the residence of two of Akbar's senior wives. The palace's profuse carvings include a ceiling crafted to resemble a canopy of blossoms.

Jami Masjid
At the southwestern corner of the palace complex, with the village of Fatehpur Sikri nestling at its base, stands the Jami Masjid , or Dargah Mosque. The alignment of the entire palace complex, which faces west instead of following the ridge, was determined by the orientation of the mosque's mihrab (prayer niche) towards Mecca. Housing the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti, the mosque is unusual in that it is also a living Sufi shrine.

The main approach is through the imposing Buland Darwaza (Great Gate), though you may choose to use the Shahi Darwaza to escape the attentions of touts, unofficial guides and hawkers. Built around 1576, possibly to commemorate Akbar's brilliant campaign in Gujarat, the spectacular gate reaches a height of 54m and is scaled by an impressive flight of steps. Flanked by domed kiosks, the archway of the simple sandstone memorial is inscribed with a message from the Koran: "Said Jesus Son of Mary (peace be on him): The world is but a bridge - pass over without building houses on it. He who hopes for an hour hopes for eternity; the world is an hour - spend it in prayer for the rest is unseen."

Before entering the mosque itself, visitors are required to remove their shoes, but cloth sandals can be borrowed for a small fee. The gate leads into a vast cloistered courtyard containing the Zenana Rauza (Tomb of the Royal Ladies), and the lattice-screen Tomb of Islam Khan , one of many nobles buried here. The focus of the Sufi shrine or dargah is the relatively small but exquisite Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti , much of which was originally crafted in red sandstone and only later faced in marble: the lattice screens are among the most intricate and beautiful in the world, with striking serpentine brackets supporting the eaves.

Sheikh Salim played a crucial role in the founding of Fatehpur Sikri by prophesizing the birth of a son to the emperor. When one of Akbar's wives, Rani Jodh Bai, a Hindu Rajput princess from Amber, became pregnant she was sent here until the birth of her son Salim, who later became the emperor Jahangir. Fatehpur Sikri was constructed in the saint's honour. The Dargah still attracts women who come here to pray for offspring, tying string onto the marble screen; when entering the main chamber, visitors cover their heads with cloth as a mark of respect. During Ramadan, an urs is held here, attracting qawwals (singers of Sufi songs) from all over the country.