Gol Gumbaz, A Glorious Monument, which influenced two Colonial Buildings in Mumbai.

Commemorating International Day of Monuments and Sites - Gol Gumbaz, A Glorious Monument, which influenced two Colonial Modern Buildings in Mumbai.

Images - Courtesy Wiki Commons.

Every year 18th April is celebrated as the ‘International Day for Monuments and Sites’ with an objective of educating people about the significance of old monuments and sites. It was back in 1982, that UNESCO, during its 22nd General Conference held in Paris from 21-24 June, adopted a resolution to celebrate this day as the ‘International Day for Monuments and Sites’ and each year the international Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) proposes a theme for the commemoration of this day. This year - 2021, the theme is ‘Complex Pasts : Diverse Futures’.  Last year, to commemorate this day, I had posted a Blog on an extraordinary monument from the city of Bijapur ( now Vijaypura) - Ibrahim Roza, and this year my post is once again on another monument - Gol Gumbaj, from Bijapur, which is Internationally acclaimed. My choice for the Gol Gumbaz is because it’s design influenced two well known colonial buildings in Mumbai and also the fact that I spent seven years of my most important and unforgettable part of my early life - 1970-77, at the Sainik School Bijapur.

The city of Mumbai - where I presently live,  is resplendent with a mix of elegant past colonial buildings of the Bombay times with that of the modern day high rise buildings of present times that beautifully coexist to form the economic capital city of India - Mumbai. Two such buildings of the colonial times of Mumbai -  the General Post Office (GPO) and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum, have been inspired and modelled on the famous Gol Gumbaz  monument of Vijayapura in Karnataka, a city with which I have a major tryst with my destiny and therefore this city is very close to my heart.  I spent seven years of my most important and unforgettable part of my early life - 1970-77, at the Sainik School Bijapur, a residential school that is part of a chain of Sainik Schools across India, which was established during the early sixties.

The GPO, modelled on the famous Gol Gumbaz, was designed by the British architect John Begg in 1902. The historians and experts of colonial era architecture say that ‘GPO is among the few structures built in Mumbai with black Kurla basalt stone with a dressing of Malad yellow and white Dhrangdra stones’ which owes its design to the Gol Gumbaz. Similarly the CSMVS building, designed by George Wittel and completed in 1914 and opened in 1922, was also inspired and modelled on the designs of Gol Gumbaz. The CSMVS and its majestic dome built on the Indo-Saracenic architecture style, a synthesis of Muslim designs and Indian materials, dominates the south Mumbai skyline. Therefore, the Gol Gumbaj has a connect with Mumbai. 

Gol Gumbaz is the crown monument among a multitude of several other famed monuments and places of historical significance that are home to the city of Bijapur, which include among others ; the Ibrahim Roza, about which I wrote last year, Upli Burz, Bara Kaman, Mulik I Miadan, Hardar Burz, Taj Bauri, Asar Mahal, Jama Masjid etc. Therefore, Gol Gumbaz and the city of Bijapur are inextricably linked to each other and are hyphenated with each other and a visit to Gol Gumbaz is mandated for every tourist who visits the city. It was built as a mausoleum for the king and is famous for its large dome and an unique whispering gallery inside this dome provides its own trademark aesthetics to the monument. The people in the city believe that Gol Gumbaz is arguably the second largest dome in the world, next only to the St. Peters Bascilica in Vatican City. 

A look at the majestic Gol Gumbaz will reveal to the beholder what a marvellous work of architectural genius it is. The massive dome of the Gol Gumbaz, with an ave inspiring whispering gallery, stands unsupported by any central pillars. Although the city of Vijaypura  has several monuments, each of which have their own remarkable features, the Gol Gumbaz stands out to attract thousands of tourists every year because of its massive sized dome. The city of Bijapur is embellished with quite a few remarkable monuments which were built during the rule of the Adil Shahis. Some of the notable structural, artistic and cultural features of these monuments in Bijapur include the large dome of the Gol Gumbaz, the glittering mehrab found in Jama Masjid, exceedingly delicate chiseling works witnessed in the Mehta Mahal, the exquisite wall paintings evidenced at the Asar Mahal, the great arches of Gagan Mahal and so also a gigantic half built Bara Kaman and lastly the extraordinary artistic embellishments found in the Ibrahim Rauza. In these monuments the Adil Shahi kings  have  left behind a legacy, which continues to be seen and appreciated even today, hundreds of years later.

The Sultanate of Bijapur, known in Bijapur as the Adil Shahi dynasty, ruled parts of southern India from the late 15th to the late 17th century (1490– 1686) with their capital in Bijapur. The Adil Shahi dynasty was founded by the Persian governor of Bijapur, Yusuf Adil Shah, who declared his independence from the declining Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan. Rulers of the Adil Shahi dynasty were great patrons of art and architecture, which is evidenced in the monuments which stand testimony to their patronage. The Adil Shahi kings could not hold on to their citadel when the Mughal ruler looked towards the south and expanded to the Deccan. Bijapur was no longer able to evade confrontation with the Mughals and finally fell to Aurangzeb. After the conquest of the city of Bijapur by Aurangzeb the importance of the city and so also the Adil Shahi kingdom began to loose its lustre and gradually faded from the collective memory of the people writing history and most unfortunately it is also not widely documented.

The history of the city of Bijapur, however, predates the Adil Shahi’s  and goes back to the Palaeolithic times the evidence of which is seen from the archaeological findings that show human settlements. However, the legendary founding of the city of Bijapur, which we know today,  started in the late tenth century (900s) under Tailapa II, who had been the Governor of the Rashtrakutas of Tardavadi. The Bijapur city was then destroyed by the invasion of the Paramara of Malwa, who declared his independence and went on to found the empire of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. It was during this period that the city came to be referred to as Vijayapura ("City of Victory").  By the late 13th century, the city had come under the influence of the Khilji Sultanate. In 1347, the area was conquered by the Bahmani Sultanate of Gulbarga (now Kalaburgi) and the city was referred to as Vijapur, which later became Bijapur. In 1518, the Bahmani Sultanate split into five splinter states known as the Deccan sultanates, one of which was Bijapur that was ruled by the kings of the AdilShahi dynasty. The city of Bijapur owes much of its greatness to Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of the independent Bijapur Sultanate. The rule of this dynasty ended in 1686, when the city was conquered by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. 

Among the monuments which stand testimony to the rule of the Adil Shahi kingdom, by far the largest and most conspicuous building in Bijapur is the mausoleum of Muhammad ( or Mahmud as he is sometimes called) Adil Shah I, which is famously known as the Gol Gumbaz. Like his illustrious father Ibrahim II, who had built the majestic Ibrahim Roza, Muhammad Adil Shah preferred to build his own legacy that he can leave behind. He envisaged that his legacy should be bigger than his fathers legacy. Therefore, as soon as he ascended the throne of the Adil Shahi kingdom, he prioritised his choices and ordered his people to built a mausoleum, which can be used as his own tomb. He envisaged that he will be able to complete his tomb before he died, unfortunately that did not happen. It is interesting to note that the successive kings of the Adil Shahi dynasty had some kind of competitive rivalry, and each monarch wished to leave a tomb or a mark of his own behind which would eclipse those of their predecessors, and leave no room for improvement to their successors. Each of them wished that their name could be singled out conspicuously from the other. To this effect, Muhammad Adil Shah certainly succeeded in building the Gol Gumbaz, which became a landmark beyond anything attempted before or after him. Although the Ibrahim Roza, built by the father of Mohammad Adil Shahi, Ibrahim II, is so extraordinary and majestic, yet the sheer size and magnitude of the Gol Gumbaz has some how managed to dwarf the Ibrahim Roza monument. Most of the people who are not so well versed with history will only remember Gol Gumbaz and the Ibrahim Roza monument has mostly become insignificant and is hardly known to people.

Credit must therefore be given to Mohammad Adil Shah and the architect and men who built the great Gol Gumbaz because surpassing the majestic Ibrahim Roza was no mean a task. The architects and builders had done their very best while constructing the Ibrahim Roza. Therefore, to surpass the Ibrahim Roza, the only thing left for Mohammed Adil Shah was to substitute quantity for quality. If he could not surpass the delicate chiselling and lacelike balustrades of the Ibrahim Rauza, he thought that at least he could build such a tomb as would, by its immense size, dwarf the Ibrahim Roza and every other building in the city. Thus was built the Gol Gumbaz, a tomb which would arrest the eye from every quarter for miles around, and carry with it the name of Muhammad, the great Sultan Muhammad of Adil Shahi into the annals of history. 

The Gol Gumbaz has perhaps derived its name from ‘Gol Gummata’ - from the local Kannada language, meaning ‘circular dome’., which is built in the Deccan style of architecture. The tomb is a giant cube on top of which houses a very large hemispherical dome. Each storey of this massive structure has seven arched windows each of which are crowned by smaller domes. The main hemispherical dome, which forms the genesis of the Gol Gumbaz structure,  is an acoustic wonder and serves as a whispering gallery that can echo the faintest of whispers many times. The diameter of the dome is less than the breadth of the building. A winding staircase ascends in each of the corners of the building, which ultimately leads to the flat roof on top between the corners and the dome. There are passages, which lead from the roof, through the thickness of the dome into the whispering gallery that forms an interior of the large dome.

Gol Gumbaz was constructed by Mohammad Adil Shah during his reign 1626 to 1656. While there is no certainty as to who the designer of this structure was ( some historians say it was one Mr. Gopal) but it certain that the architect for this monument was Yaqut of Dabul. As the name of the structure suggests, the monument is a Circular dome constructed with dark grey basalt and decorated plaster, the plain exterior of Gol Gumbaz is beautiful in its stark simplicity. The main structure of the monument is in the form of of a cube with each side measuring some 47.5 meters (156 ft) on each side, and it is capped by a dome which is about 44 m (144 ft) in external diameter. There are eight intersecting arches, which are  created by two rotated squares which provide an interlocking structural support for the large dome. At each of the four corners of the cube there is a dome-capped octagonal tower, which is seven stories high with a staircase inside. The upper floor of each of these corners opens on to a round open gallery which surrounds the dome. 

The dome is practically a hemisphere of about 38 metres (124  feet and 5 inches) interior diameter. The thickness of the dome is 10 feet at the base and it is 9 feet at the crown top of the dome. Thus the total external diameter of the Gol Gumbaz Dome at its base is approximately 44 metres (145 feet). The curves of the surface of the hemispherical dome are not absolutely perfect and therefore the measurements taken across different diameters of the dome vary by several inches. Notwithstanding  the same, one can safely arrive at an area of the dome which is in excess of 1670 square metres (18,025 sq. ft). When we compare these measurements of the Gol Gumbaz and compare it with other monuments of the world, we can say that Gol Gumbaz can be considered as the second largest space covered by a single dome in the world, the next largest being that of the Pantheon at Rome which measures 15,833 sq. ft. The total exterior height of the Gol Gumbaz building above the platform on which it stands is about 60 metres tall (198 feet and 6 inches) exclusive of the wooden pole at the top, which measured some 8 feet thus the total height of the building measures some 62 metres tall (206 ft. 6 in). The interior height from the level of the floor around the tomb platform to the top of the dome is 54 metres (178 ft). The drop from the gallery to the floor below is about 33 metres (109 ft. 6 in.). 

The most popular feature of the monument, which attracts visitors is the loud echoes that fill the whisper gallery inside the dome. Just a thumping of the feet is enough to create a impactful echo which can resemble the tread of a regiment. When the whispering gallery is filled with children one can listen to a range of sounds and strange and uncanny noises, which fill the gallery to the bemusement of the visitors. Another feature of the inner dome is the specialities of its acoustics, which amplify the slightest whisper from one part of the dome so that it can be heard by the friend standing on the other side of the dome at a considerable distance. The guides will brief the visitors that one can easily start a conversation which can be most easily carried on across the full diameter of the dome in the lowest undertone, when not many visitors are around. One common site at the inner dome is the scene of visitors clapping their hands, which gets echoed over ten times distinctly. 

Although the whispering gallery appears to be the main attraction of the visitors one can say with some certainty that the architect of Gol Gumbaz perhaps did not  have in mind the production of a good echo, when he designed and constructed the dome. After all the Gol Gumbaz dome is no more than a duplicate of many domes that are seen in Bijapur. The only difference however is that it is much larger in scale. It therefore appears that the echoes which now form the main attraction to the visitors was actually not planned for but has been purely a natural result of the large size of the dome. When one looks at the domes and analyses them from acoustics point, we can understand that the smaller domes will produce what is called resonance, primarily because their diameters are not sufficient enough to produce a distinct echo. For a distinctive echo to be produced, the distance between a person and the reflecting surface must be higher than at-least 22 metres (66 feet) so that the sound on return may reach the ear immediately upon the dying out of the original sound so that it can create the impression of a second sound — an echo. If a greater distance intervenes, the echo is more distinct as more time separates the original sound from the reflected sound. If the distance is less, no distinct echo results, as the original and reflected sounds overlap and produce a confused sound or a resonance. 

The Sultan - Muhammad Adil Shah, who painstakingly conceived an idea to build this majestic monument, is buried inside this mausoleum hall, which is a square podium with steps on each side. In the middle of the podium, a cenotaph slab on the ground marks the actual grave below. In all there are five graves in the mausoleum hall and they are ; Muhammad Adil Shah, his youngest wife Arus Bibi, a daughter, a grandson, and his favourite mistress, Rambha. To distinguish the Sultan from others, a wooden baldachin is placed over the Sultan’s cenotaph. The actual graves however are buried underground.

The beauty and technical elegance of this building can be seen and appreciated from the words of James Ferguson. In the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, he explains the technical wizardry involved in building Gol Gumba; “The most ingenuous and novel part of the construction of this dome is the mode in which its lateral or outward thrust is counteracted. This was accomplished by forming the pendentives so that they not only cut off the angles but that their arches intersect one another and form a very considerable mass of masonry perfectly stable in itself: and, by its weight acting inwards counteracting any thrust that can possibly be brought to bear upon it by the pressure of the dome. If the whole edifice thus balanced has any tendency to move, it is to fall inwards, which from its circular form is impossible: while the action of the weight of the pendentives being in the opposite direction to that of the dome, it acts like a tie, and keeps the whole in equilibrium, without interfering at all with the dome.”

The majesty of the monument can be felt when one looks around the roof of the tomb. It provides a most extensive view of the whole city and one can see the Jama Masjid,  Mustafa Khan’s mosque, the Asar Mahal with its great open front, and the many buildings in the citadel, most prominent among which is the Anand Mahal. One can also sight the domes and minars of the famous Ibrahim Rauza. There is a large boldly cut Persian inscriptions, from which one can understand that the Sultan Mohammad Adil Shah died in 1656 (A. H. 1067). The inscriptions in Persian read : “The end of Muhammad has become laudable.” “Muhammad Sultan whose abode is in paradise.” “The abode of peace became Muhammad Shah.”

On the occasion of this years ‘International Day for Monuments and Sites’, with a theme “Complex Pasts : Diverse Future”,  I earnestly hope that the city of Bijapur and the majestic monument - Gol Gumbaz, will be more prominently visible on the tourists map of India and hopefully it will be visited by more and more tourists - not just Indians but foreign tourists as well. On this occasion let us remind ourselves of how blessed we are to have such a rich heritage that is resplendent with innumerable temples, mosques, churches, monuments and other archeological sites, which are spread all across our vast country. It is our bounded duty to cherish them and help the authorities concerned in maintaining and preserving the temples, archeological sites and monuments for posterity. 

Jai Hind.