A bunch of teenagers, cheerful in their bright shirts and floppy pants, steps into the gallery and stands silent in awe for a few seconds. Just a few seconds, then one of them shouts ‘ho’ at the top of his voice and the echo is heard all over the quiet monument. And then the cacophony begins; each of them shouting and hooting, thrilled to hear the sounds rebounding across the gallery. Looking up at the source of the noise, the dome appears to be a flower with its petals unfurled, the people leaning over the walls of the gallery mere specks.

The Gol Gumbaz (literally translated as "round dome") in Bijapur, built in the mid 17^th century is a memorial to Sultan Muhammad Adil Shah of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Its popular claim to fame is that the dome is the second largest in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to be unsupported by pillars. The dome is in fact entirely held by the thick walls of the building, which makes it an architectural marvel. At the base of the dome runs a circular pathway called the whispering gallery: a whisper on one side of the passage can be clearly heard on the other side.

It is believed that the Sultan ordered the construction of his own tomb well before his death and oversaw the construction, planning it in competition with the Ibrahim Rauza, his father’s (Ibrahim Adil Shah II) tomb. He could not compete with the elegance of the Ibrahim Rauza, and so he chose to outdo it in size. The Gol Gumbaz is therefore a magnificent structure, although plain in appearance and now houses the tombs of Mohammad Adil Shah, his wives (and mistresses) and children.

Walking in from the gate, the first structure visible is the Nakkar Khana (drum house) which appears to be a part of the Gol Gumbaz but is actually a museum displaying interesting artefacts from the region. The entire complex is maintained by the Architectural Survey of India (ASI) and is open from 6 a.m. – which is also the ideal time to visit – before the tourist buses and school excursions arrive.