Jodha Bai Mahal

Jodha Bai Mahal, also called Raniwas, is the largest palace at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar commissioned it in 1569, when building began at his new capital, for Mariam-uz-Zamani, popularly known as Jodha Bai, the Amber princess who bore him Prince Salim that year. It was the biggest residential building in the city and the main complex of the zenana, the quarters of the royal women, and it still stands, though in ruins.

Built of red sandstone, the palace blends Hindu and Persian design with clear Rajasthani and Gujarati influences. A single grand gateway on the east side, once guarded by rooms for sentries, opens into a rectangular block arranged around a courtyard with privacy in mind. Inside are a two-storey Khawabgah, a Hindu temple and a Tulsi math where the queen worshipped. Motifs of swans, elephants and parrots, images of Krishna, curved pillars with brackets, chhatris and semicircular domes adorn the building.