Gol Gumbaz, Mausoleum in Bijapur, Karnataka, India

Gol Gumbaz is a mausoleum in Vijaypura District, India, with a large grey dome made of basalt stone. Four octagonal towers stand at the corners of the square base and surround the central chamber.

Mohammed Adil Shah began the mausoleum in the early years of his reign, which started in 1627, and work stopped at his death in 1656 with the inner walls still being plastered, leaving the tomb unfinished. A Persian inscription above the southern entrance records his death that year. Under Ali Adil Shah II an unfinished, unoccupied wing was added to the north side.

The name is Deccani: gol, from Sanskrit gola, means round, while gumbaz comes from the Persian gumbad, dome. An inscription records that Mohammad Adil Shah had soil from the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali in Karbala placed in the central vault during construction. The tomb stands directly behind the dargah of the Sufi saint Hashim Peer Dastagir, whose disciple the sultan was.

Visitors can climb the spiral staircase inside one of the towers to reach the upper gallery beneath the dome. The ascent requires some endurance, as the narrow steps wind upward.

A whispering gallery runs around the inside of the dome's base and allows even quiet sounds to carry across long distances. Someone whispering at one wall can be heard by a person at the opposite end.