GOL GUMBAZ

 

GOL GUMBAZ

Location                  :  Bijapur, Karnataka, India

Unique Feature        :  Whispering Dome

Significance           :  Second Largest Dome In The World

GOL GUMBAZ, situated in Bijapur is an astounding engineering feat. Its enormous "Whispering" dome is second in size only to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The dome is the second largest in the world, 124 feet in diameter.

The dome stands unsupported by pillars. The fantastic acoustical system in the dome carries the faintest whisper around the dome and returns it to the listener nine times.

Even the tick of a watch or the rustle of paper can be heard across a distance of 37 m in the whispering gallery. The gallery around the dome provides a fabulous view of the town.

The architecture of this building is unique with the four minarets being the four staircases leading to the top dome. The beauty and excellence of this dome must be experienced at least once in a lifetime.

It  is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah (1627-57) of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Indian sultans, who ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur from 1490 to1686.

The tomb, located in the city of Bijapur, or Vijapur in Karnataka, southern, was built in 1659 by the famous architect, Yaqut of Dabul. The structure consists of a massive square chamber measuring nearly 50 m on each side and covered by a huge dome 37.9 m in diameter making it the second largest pre-modern dome in the entire world (after the dome of Hagia Sophiaand Pantheon). The dome is supported on giant squinches supported by groined pendentives while outside the building is supported by domed octagonal corner towers. The Dome is the second largest one in the world which is unsupported by any pillars. The acoustics of the enclosed place make it a whispering gallery where even the smallest sound is heard across the other side of the Gumbaz. At the periphery of the dome is a circular balcony where visitors can witness the astounding whispering gallery. Any whisper, clap or sound gets echoed around 10 times. Anything whispered from one corner of the gallery can be heard clearly on the diagonally opposite side. It is also said that the Sultan, Ibrahim Adil Shah and his Queen used to converse in the same manner. During his time, the musicians used to sing, seated in the whispering gallery so that the sound produced could be reached to very corner of the hall.

Right below the whispering gallery, in the hall the dancers provided entertainment. Each tower consists of seven storeys and the upper floor of each opens on to a round gallery which surrounds the dome. In the centre of the chamber is a square raised podium approached by steps in the centre of each side.

 Gol Gumbaz and the ASI Museum

In the centre of the podium are the tombs of Muhammad Adil Shah II and his relations. To the west of the podium in a large apse-like projection is the mosque, also raised slightly above the floor level of the chamber.

Gol Gumbaz Circa 1860

"…built on a terrace 200 yards square. Height of tomb externally 198 ft, internally 175. Diameter of dome 124 feet, 4 minarets of 8 storeys, 12 ft broad entered by winding staircases terminating in cupolas'. The Gol Gumbaz, a grand mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah, though a structural triumph of Deccan architecture, is impressively simple in design, with a hemispherical dome, nearly 44 mts in external diameter, resting on a cubical volume measuring 47.5 mts on each side. The dome is supported internally by eight intersecting arches created by two rotated squares that create interlocking pendentives. A centotaph slab in the floor marks the true grave in the basement, the only instance of this practice in Adil Shahi architecture."

One can easily make out the restoration carried out on the structure by comparing the photographs. The surroundings have been converted into a splendid garden and the site is maintained by The Archeological Survey of India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Gumbaz