The talar or verandah formed an ideal place from which to watch the games of polo which took place in the square and is richly decorated with designs painted on the external plaster at the rear and elaborate tracery in the ceiling. The columns, like those of Chehel Sotoon, were originally encased in mirrored glass to give the impression of a roof floating in the air, and like them are cut from single chenar trees (Platanus orientalis). The lower floors are uninteresting and were clearly used as quarters for guards, and the security of the upper apartments was further enhanced by the uncomfortably steep and narrow stairways which lead up and down within the building.