[clarification needed] He encouraged Hindus, Catholics, Zoroastrians, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and even atheists to participate.

Akbar also wanted to sharpen his theological grasp because he had been told of the imminent arrival to his court of Mirza Sulaiman of Badakshan, a Sufi with a predilection for spiritual debates.

Alfred, Lord 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.

Saeed Ahmed Mararavi, followed by Athar Abbas Rizvi and Vincent Flynn suggested that the mound between Jama Masjid and Jodha Bai's Mahal is the site of Ibadat Khana.

In early 1980s, K. K. Muhammed working under Prof. R. C. Gaur of Aligarh Muslim University excavated the mound and found the steps, platforms and boundary wall, which matched the painting of Ibadat Khana from Akbar's period.