Visiting the Gol Gumbaz Mausoleum

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The Gol Gumbaz Mausoleum in situated in the kingdom of Bijapur of Karnataka and is one of the grandest sights that one can behold in the country of India. The Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah (r. 1627-1656) of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur and it has the second largest dome in the world, 40 meter diameter and huge hall. The mausoleum is one that draws travelers from each and every part of the world, even in the season of winter.

There are no restrictions as far as entry is concerned and one can enter the place irrespective of one’s own religion, caste and creed. There are no tickets to be bought for the purpose of entry either and one can enter the temple at any given time between ten in the morning and five in the afternoon. The temple boasts of a Deccan style of architecture which is really beautiful and very medieval and ancient Indian in its essence. Photographs can be taken of both the interiors as well as the exteriors of the temple.

One of the characteristic features of the tomb is that its dome stands without any support from a pillar. Dark gray basalt was used to construct the tomb, which is then beautifully adorned with plasterwork. The thicknesses of the walls of mausoleum are 3 m and 30.5 m in height. On the exterior side of the structure there are three great blind arches. The central arch is the widest of all and is decorated with wooden panels and has a small rectangular entrance and three rows of windows with arches.

The base of the monumental dome is carved with beautiful petals that cover the drum. The diameter of the dome measures almost 44 m from outside and its height from a circular platform is 27.4 m. If we measure the total height of the magnificent dome from the ground level up to the top from outside it is 60 m.

The Gol Gumbaz Mausoleum is one that can house a large number of visitors all at a time. It is huge in terms of structure and hundreds of people can get to the interiors of the temple without any kind of trouble in the least. There are also good hired car facilities which you can make use of in order to get to this mausoleum without actually having to lose your way around the town of Bijapur which is quite expansive and often like a maze for those who are visiting this place for the very first time ever. The mausoleum looks truly grand in the evening hours when the lights around it are lit up. This is the time when it looks resplendent and bright and the surrounding atmosphere in the evening hours is generally one of peace, joy and harmony with locals and outsiders gathering together for fun.

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