Bahadur Shah Zafar, India's last Mughal emperor, is revered now as a saint-poet in Myanmar, the country to which he was exiled by the British and left to die an anonymous death about a century and a half ago. 

"People worship and pray at his mausoleum for his blessings. He is worshipped as a pir (a holy man) who dispenses miracles to the pure of spirit," said Aye Lwin alias Mohammad Yunus, a member of the Bahadur Shah Zafar Mausoleum committee that manages the heritage monument located in the heart of this capital city.

"He is revered by not only Muslims but by people of other faiths, including Buddhists. He has emerged as a symbol of inter-faith harmony," Lynn, an officer with the Myanmar International Television, told visiting Indian journalists. 

Waheeda, a Muslim girl whose parents migrated from Pakistan to Myanmar more than 100 years ago, said: "For us, he is more than a symbol. He is close to our hearts."

This is a miraculous transformation for an emperor who spent his last days in an alien land passionately composing soulful sad poems pining for the loss of his country and his beloved family.

Bahadur Shah Zafar had emerged as the rallying point for thousands of India's first war of independence in 1857. The British exiled him to Myanmar in 1858 after the uprising had been crushed.

He was kept in a garage attached to the bungalow of Captain Nelson Davies, a junior British officer and died a sad, broken man four years later in 1862. His family in India was relentlessly persecuted by the British to crush their capacity for another rebellion. 

The emperor, known for his spiritual inclination at an early age, became a 'Murshid' (spiritual guide) in the Chistiya sufi order at the age of 40.

The poet-king's "real grave" was found in 1991 when a memorial hall was being built at the mausoleum site. During the digging operation, his grave, diligently concealed by the British, was finally discovered nearly 130 years after his death. Alongside Zafar's grave are the graves of his wife Zeenat Mahal and granddaughter Raunaq Zamani.

The British took care to suppress the emperor's grave for fear that it might emerge as a potent symbol of anti-colonial assertion by Indians, explained Aye Lwin.

Interestingly, this was the historic place from which nationalist leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave the call of "Delhi Chalo" (march to Delhi) in 1942 to Indians thirsting for freedom. 

Bahadur Shah's mausoleum is a must-see for Indians visiting the city, especially dignitaries from the subcontinent. A handsomely bound message book has glowing words from the pens of India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, former Pakistan ruler Zia-ul Haq and Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.  

"I pay my last homage to the memory of the symbol and rallying point of India's first war of independence. That war has now been won. ...But your sacrifice has been linked forever to the lore of India's freedom struggle," says Rajiv Gandhi's message scrawled in his elegant long hand. Gandhi visited Myanmar in 1987.

The intense loneliness of the man who was once emperor of India still resonates powerfully through his poems.

His epitaph, written in the form of a ghazal, reads: "Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye do gaz zameen bhi na mili ku-e-yaar mein" (How unlucky is Zafar! He couldn't get even two yards of earth for burial in his beloved country).

However, the emperor has been resurrected in his exiled land with people celebrating his 'urs' (death anniversary) every year with feeling and fervour.

The Indian embassy organises a grand qawwali programme at the mazaar (shrine) under the sponsorship of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).