To the right of the degs is the marble mosque donated by Akbar, and to the left stands an assembly hall for the homeless. Other subsidiary shrines inside the enclosure include those of Khwaja Sahib and Shah Jehan's daughters, a handful of generals and governors, and companions of the saint from Afghanistan. Look out, too, for the small white marble tomb on the eastern side of the complex, commemorating the famous bhishti , or water carrier, who saved the life of Humayun when he nearly drowned in the Ganges after his defeat by Afghan leader, Sher Shah, in 1590.

To thank the water wallah for the timely loan of his inflated waterskin, Humayun ordered that he be placed on the Moghul throne for an afternoon. Much to the abject horror of his ministers, leather coins are even said to have been struck to mark the event. Originally the bhishti 's tomb was covered in precious stones, but Aurangzeb had them removed after he mistook the grave for that of the saint himself.

These days, it's impossible to miss Khwaja Sahib's final resting place. Surrounded by silver railings, it is surmounted by a large gilt dome, near the magnificent mosque of Shah Jehan. Devotees file past with brilliant chadars , gilt-brocaded silk covers for the saint's grave, carried on beds of rose petals in flat, round head-baskets. Visitors are asked by the hawk-eyed khadims for donations, offered blessings, lightly brushed with peacock feathers and given the chance to touch the cloth covering the tomb.

The continual murmur of prayer and the heady scent of rose attar, and uplifting qawwali music being performed before the shrine (from an hour so or before sunset until 9pm), exactly as it has been for seven hundred years, create an unforgettable atmosphere. Back

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