Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur.

The tomb, located

in Bijapur, Karnataka in India, was completed in 1656 by the architect Yaqut of Dabul. The name
finds its roots from Gola gummata deriving from Gol Gombadhmeaning "circular dome".[1] It is
constructed as per the Deccan architecture".[2] the structure is composed of a cube, 47.5 metres
(156 ft) on each side, capped by a dome44 m (144 ft) in external diameter. "Eight intersecting
arches created by two rotated squares that create interlocking pendentives" support the dome. At
each of the four corners of the cube, is a dome-capped octagonal tower seven stories high with a
staircase inside.[2] The upper floor of each opens on to a round gallery which surrounds the
dome. Inside the mausoleum hall, is a square podium with steps on each side. In the middle of
the podium, acenotaph slab on the ground marks the actual grave below, "the only instance of
this practice" in the architecture of the Adil Shahi Dynasty. In the middle of the north side, "a
large semi-octagonal bay" protrudes out.[2] With an area of 1,700 m2 (18,000 sq ft),[3] the
mausoleum has one of the biggest single chamber spaces in the world. Running around the
inside of the dome is the "Whispering Gallery" where even the softest sound can be heard on the
other side of the mausoleum due to the acoustics of the space.[3]
The Kamakhya Temple (Assamese: ); also Kamrup-Kamakhya[2] is a Hindu
temple dedicated to the mother goddessKamakhya.[3] It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti
Pithas.[4] Situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati city in Assam,India, it is the
main temple in a complex of individual temples dedicated to the
ten Mahavidyas: Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneshwari,Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagal
amukhi, Matangi and Kamala.[5] Among these, Tripurasundari, Matangi and Kamala reside inside
the main temple whereas the other seven reside in individual temples. [6] It is an important
pilgrimage destination for general Hindu and especially for Tantric worshipers.the current
structural temple, built and renovated many times in the period 8th-17th century, gave rise to a
hybrid indigenous style that is sometimes called the Nilachal type: a temple with a hemispherical
dome on a cruciform base.[8] The temple consists of four chambers: garbhagriha and
three mandapas locally called calanta, pancharatna and natamandira aligned from east to west.

Garbhagriha[edit]
The garbhagriha has a pancharatha plan[9] that rests on plinth moldings that are similar to the
Surya Temple at Tezpur. On top of the plinths are dados from a later period which are of the
Khajuraho or the Central Indian type, consisting of sunken panels alternating with pilasters. [10] The
panels have delightful sculptured Ganesha and other Hindu gods and goddesses.[11] Though the
lower portion is of stone, the shikhara in the shape of a polygonal beehive-like dome is made of
brick, which is characteristic of temples in Kamrup.[12] The shikhara is circled by a number of
minaret inspired angashikharas[13] of Bengal type charchala. The Shikhara, angashikharas and
other chambers were built in the 16th century and after.
The inner sanctum, the garbhagriha, is below ground level and consists of no image but a rock
fissure in the shape of a yoni:
The garbhagriha is small, dark and reached by narrow steep stone steps. Inside the cave there is
a sheet of stone that slopes downwards from both sides meeting in a yoni-like depression some
10 inches deep. This hollow is constantly filled with water from an underground perennial spring.
It is the vulva-shaped depression that is worshiped as the goddess Kamakhya herself and
considered as most important pitha (abode) of the Devi.[14]
The garbhaghrihas of the other temples in the Kamakhya complex follow the same structure
a yoni-shaped stone, filled with water and below ground level.

The adhisthana of the Kamakhya temple indicates that the original temple was of Nagara style

The shikhara is of type common to medieval Assam, ringed by a cluster of angashikhara of

Bengalcharchala. Part of the antarala is also visible, which is of type atchala.

Calanta, Pancharatna, and Natamandir[edit]

The temple consists of three additional chambers. The first to the west is the calanta, a square
chamber of type atchala (similar to the 1659 Radha-Vinod Temple of Bishnupur[15]). The entrance
to the temple is generally via its northern door, that is of Ahom type dochala. It houses a small
movable idol of the Goddess, a later addition, which explains the name. [16] The walls of this
chamber contain sculpted images of Naranarayana, related inscriptions and other gods. [17] It
leads into the garbhagriha via descending steps.
The pancharatna to the west of calanta is large and rectangular with a flat roof and five
smaller shikharas of the same style as the main skhikara. The middle shikhara is slightly bigger
than the other four.
The natamandira extends to the west of the pancharatna with an apsidal end and ridged roof of
the Ranghar type Ahom style. Its inside walls bear inscriptions from Rajeswar Singha (1759) and
Gaurinath Singha (1782), which indicate the period this structure was built. [18]