Gol Gumbaz

Gol Gumbaz is the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah, completed around 1656, and its dome spans about thirty-eight metres internally without piers beneath it, which places it among the largest single-chamber domes anywhere; the chamber below is roughly seventeen hundred square metres of unobstructed floor. The dome rests on interlocking pendentive arches that carry the load outward to the walls. A gallery runs round the inside at the dome's base, and the acoustics there are extraordinary: a whisper carries around the circumference and a sound repeats several times. Four seven-storey octagonal towers at the corners hold the stairs up.

What you actually see

• The great dome - about thirty-eight metres across without internal supports.
• The whispering gallery - a circular walkway where sound carries and repeats.
• The corner towers - seven-storey octagons with stairs to the gallery.
• The tomb chamber - the vast unobstructed floor below the dome.

When to go

October to March; northern Karnataka is severely hot from March to June. Early morning is the only time the gallery is quiet enough to hear the acoustics properly.

Honest expectations

The gallery is usually full of visitors shouting to test the echo, which destroys the effect entirely; going at opening is the only reliable way. The stairs are narrow and steep.

Nearby

Ibrahim Rauza lies west in the same city; Badami is southeast.