The Ibādat Khāna (House of Worship) was a meeting house built in 1575 CE by the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) at his palace in Fatehpur Sikri to gather religious leaders of many faiths in discussion.
Akbar built the Ibādat Khāna originally as a debating house open only to Sunni Muslims, but following a series of petty squabbles which turned ugly, Akbar encouraged Hindus, Roman Catholics and even atheists to participate. Religious leaders and philosophers from around this diverse empire, as well as those passing through, were invited to Akbar's Thursday evening discussions.
By the late 1580s CE, Akbar began an attempt to reconcile the differences of all religions by creating a new faith, the Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"), which incorporated both pantheistic versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably Ibn Arabi's doctrine of Wahdat al wajood or Unity of Existence) and bhakti or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of Christianity (like crosses), Zoroastrianism (fire ceremonies) and Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jain Acharyas Hir Vijay Suri and Jin Chandra Suri and gave up non-vegetarian food because of their influence. He declared Amari or non-killing of animals on the holy days of Jains like Paryushan and Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back the Jizya tax from Jain pilgrimage places like Palitana.
This faith, however, was not for the masses. In fact, the only "converts" to this new religion were the upper nobility of Akbar's court. Historians have so far been able to identify only 18 members of this new religion.
The exact site of the Ibadat Khana within the palace complex is unknown and has likely been long demolished. There is conjecture that the ornate single storey Diwan-I-Khas was the Ibadat Khana's original site.[1]
Alfred Tennyson's poem Akbar’s Dream lauds the Ibādat Khāna, ascribing tolerance and humanity to his "Divine Faith", while implicitly criticising the intolerance of 19th century British Christianity.[2]