File:Zafar mahal 1.jpg

English: Located right in the heart, and a mucky one at that, of Mehrauli, we took quite a few rounds owing to the Zafar Mahal/ Sheesh Mahal confusion, while nomenclature everywhere say the former, the elders in the region prefer the latter.

Built by Akbar Shah II, one of the powerless Mughals after the British had firmly set their foot in, the three storey high front gate was constructed by Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal king, for whom this served as his summer palace. I often refer to him as the mournful poet here, reason being 'twas here the gentleman wished to buried, and Yangon was where he died in exile after the 1857 war of independence.

Typical Mughal architecture in red sandstone and white marble, the interesting aspect being the Bengali domes one can observe on the sides if the entry gate. The interiors are mostly rubble, apart from the terrace, or the Naubat Khana. The exterior tiling has been scourged away, as has most of the Sal and the associated woodwork

There is a small but exquisite Moti Masjid behind the palace, built by Bahadur Shah 1 in the 17th century which served as the private mosque of the Royal family. Not very far from it lies the Dargah of Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a Sufi saint who visited during the reign of Iltutmish.

A haunt of the human looking for privacy during intoxication, or a murderer's reprieve to that prostitute's 'majboori'; morning at a ruin does not reflect this desparation at all, the sun a balm before it becomes a brawn.