Built In 1656
Built By Muhammad Adil Shah
Location Bijapur (Karnataka)
A MONUMENTAL MAUSOLEUM
The Gol Gumbaz, is not only the last resting place of Muhammad Adil Shah (AD 1626-56), the seventh ruler of the Adil Shahi dynasty, but also the landmark of Bijapur and the hallmark of the erstwhile Adil Shahi rulers. It dominates the skyline of Bijapur and is a must see tourist spot for anyone visiting the town.
STYLE-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
The Gol Gumbaz is an excellent example of Islamic architecture as seen in India in general and the Deccan region in particular. It has all the trademarks of the traditional Islamic or Persian style of architecture, which includes a dome, different type of well-formed arches, geometric proportions and use of Islamic motifs. Local influence can be seen in the highly foliated drum below the bulbous dome, and in the use of the local dark brown stone- typical features of Bijapur buildings of that period.
The Bahmani kingdom, which sprawled over the Deccan region in medieval India, was the first independent Muslim state in this part of the country. However, during the later half of the fifteenth century, it splintered into five small sultanates (kingdoms) - Berar (in AD 1484), Bijapur (in AD 1489), Ahmadnagar (in AD 1490), Bidar (in AD 1492) and Golkonda (in AD 1512). Bijapur broke away under Yusuf Adil Khan, a descendent of the Turkish royal family and the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty. The Adil Shahi rulers were great patrons of art and architecture and built a number of monuments in Bijapur, which was their capital.
The Gol Gumbaz is an architectural achievement for the Adil Shahi dynasty and the most important building of Bijapur. Externally, the tomb is a massive cube, with octagonal seven storied towers topped by small rounded domes, projecting at the corners. Each face of the cube has three arches-a large central arch, flanked by two smaller arches. An inscription on its entrance arch states that the edifice retains the mortal remains of Muhammad Adil Shah. In line with the sixth story of the corner towers is a projection on the tomb walls, supported by closely set brackets, above which is a band of small arched openings. The parapet has a decorative edging, beyond which rises the bulbous dome with a foliated drum, which is a typical feature of Bijapur buildings apart from a pier instead of a pillar and a crescent finial surmounting the spires, to denote the ruler's Turkish origin.
Internally, there is only one square chamber of majestic proportions-each side of which is 135 feet high, the walls over 10 feet thick and 110 feet high. The dome has a diameter of 125 feet internally with its apex over 200 feet high. The tomb's height has been likened to a present twenty-storied building.
The key to the entire plan, of supporting the immense dome over the square room below, was solved by constructing eight pointed intersected arches which are perfectly stable in themselves and contract any thrust from the weight of the dome. The arches support a circular platform above, which encounters the base of the dome. The transition from a square chamber below to the circular base of the dome was possible by the intersection above producing an octagon. The interior surface of the dome is about 12 feet from the inner edge of the circular structure produced by the arches, so that a proportion of its weight is transmitted directly downwards on to the four walls, the remainder being carried on the intersecting arches.
The fantastic dome of the Gol Gumbaz, with a diameter of 125 feet covers the largest uninterrupted floor spacing in the world-18, 337 square feet. The dome of St. Peter's is larger in diameter by 5 meters and rises vertically over a circular plan of the same size of the dome's diameter. However, the dome of Gol Gumbaz, which is placed over a larger square space, covers the largest domed space in the world.
The hemispherical dome of an average thickness of 10 feet was constructed out of concentric layers of brick masonry cast in concrete formed out of a mix of ballast and rich lime mortar. The 12 feet projection above the intersecting arches forms the whispering gallery, which can be approached by a narrow stairway within the left tower. This gallery around the base of the dome formed a highly sensitive echo alcove and the faintest sound in it echoes across 135 feet, resonating ten times and thus one pair of feet is enough to awaken the echoes of the tread of a regiment. At the center of the vast space, on a raised platform are the cenotaphs of Muhammad Adil Shah, his two wives, mistress, daughter and grandson-their interred bodies placed in a crypt below accessible by a flight of stairs under the western doorway.
Today, Bijapur, like Agra, is known for its Islamic monuments of the 15th - 17th century and most of all for its mausoleum that can be singled out from the horizon ten kilometer away. The sense of grandeur of the Gol Gumbaz and exactness of its geometrical proportions, creating a heightened spatial experience, make it a marvel of engineering.
HOW TO REACH
Bijapur is well connected by train to Hubli, Badami, Bangalore, and Sholapur. From Sholapur, one can get connecting trains for Hyderabad, Vijawada, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. There are daily buses from Bijapur to Badami, Belgaum, Bidar, Hospet, Hubli, and Bangalore, which is 630 kilometer away.
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