Bijapur – Legacy of Adil Shahi Kings

Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur District of Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluka. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Bijapur is located 530 km northwest of the State Capital Bengaluru and about 550 km from Mumbai, and 384 km west of the city of Hyderabad.

A historic city epitomizing the Deccan’s Islamic era, dusty Vijapura tells a glorious tale dating back some 600 years. Blessed with a treasure house of mosques, mausoleums, palaces and fortifications, it was the capital of the Adil Shahi kings from 1489 to 1686, and one of the five splinter states formed after the Islamic Bahmani kingdom broke up in 1482. Despite its strong Islamic character, Vijapura is also a centre for the Lingayat brand of Shaivism, which emphasises a single personalised god.

In an introduction to an album of Bijapur published in 1866, Philip Meadows Taylor (an administrator in British India and a novelist, who made notable contributions to public knowledge of South India) wrote: “Palaces, arches, tombs, cisterns, gateways, minarets, …all carved from the rich basalt rock of the locality, garlanded by creepers, broken and disjointed by peepul trees, each in its turn is a gem of art and the whole a treasury.”

Bara Kaman – Ali Adil Shah II started to build a beautiful structure with 12 arches in 12 rows and 12 columns and 12 storeys tall, so that its shadow would fall on Golgumbaz in the evening. He died before it got completed. Nowadays, the uncompleted monument can be visited.

The Bara Kaman was built in 1672AD, by Ali Adil Shah II, and was supposed to be the burial mausoleum for the king and his wives. However, before the Bara Kaman could be completed, Ali Adil Shah II was murdered by his own father Muhammad Adil Shah, who did not want the Bara Kaman to lessen the glory of the Gol Gumbaz.

Bara Kaman has the tombs of Ali Adil Shah II, his wife Chand Bibi, his mistresses and his daughters.

The architect of Bara Kaman was Malik Sandal. The structure has raised walls in concentric arches. After the arches were erected, the inner arches were toppled, leaving only the outermost arch. No cement was used, instead iron rings were used to hold the stones together.

The magnificent Bara Kaman.

The Asar Mahal was built by Mohammed Adil Shah in about 1646, which was used to serve as a Hall of Justice.

The rooms on the upper storey are decorated with frescoes and the front is graced with a square tank. Here women are not allowed inside.

Jama Masjid is a mosque built by Ali Adil Shah I (1558-1580) in the year 1578 after the victory over Vijaya Nagara at the Battle of Rakkasagi – Tangadagi in Talikoti in 1565.

The Central Mihrab on the western wall is inscribed with lines from the Koran. This inscription was completed in 1676 by Malik Yakut, under the orders from Sultan Muhammad Adil Shah.

The mosque is one of the largest mosques in South India.

Set in a perfect square of 1,16,300 sq. ft., 2250 to 2500 persons can offer prayers at a stretch.

Gol Gumbuz is the most famous monument in Bijapur. It is the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah (ruled 1627-1657).

It is the largest dome ever built in India, next in size only to St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Inside the Gol Gumbuz.

Steep steps lead to the top from where one can access the gallery of the central dome.

Jama Masjid as seen from the top of Gol Gumbuz.

View from the top of Gol Gumbuz.

View of the tombs from the top gallery.

The Whispering Gallery at the top, where even minute sounds can be heard clearly 37 metres away. There are seats diagonally opposite to each other along the walls of the dome. The sound is so minute, that if you drop any object at one end of the diameter, the person on the other end can actually figure out the object. One can also whisper into the wall next to the seat to let the other person know if their guess was correct.

Gol Gumbuz.

Gol Gumbuz.

A museum in front of Gol Gumbuz hosts a variety of artifacts of the by-gone era.

Shivagiri has an 85 feet tall Shiva Statue installed by the T.K. Patil Banakatti Charitable Trust on Sindagi Road. It is slowly growing as a pilgrimage location. The 1,500 tonnes statue of Lord Shiva is considered as the second largest statue of Lord Shiva in India and was prepared by sculptors from Shimoga for more than 13 months.

It was unveiled on 26 February 2006 on the day of Shivarathri. Each bead of the rudrakshi chain weighs 50 tonnes. The statue is built with cement, steel and concrete.

Birds inside the Shivagiri Ashram.

Birds inside the Shivagiri Ashram.

Birds inside the Shivagiri Ashram.

Ibrahim Rouza is the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II (ruled 1580-1627), the fifth king of the dynasty and, like the Mughal emperor Akbar, known for religious tolerance. Built on a single rock bed, it is noted for the symmetry of its features.

 Ibrahim Rauza comprises two buildings, a magnificent tomb and a remarkable mosque enveloped by a garden. Facing each other, these twin buildings have a fountain in between them.

A Persian inscription here records the construction of this Rauza in 1626.

This is the most ornate building in Bijapur.

These buildings stand on a raised terrace supported by arches in a large rectangular enclosure with a high entrance tower in the centre of the north side, adorned with four graceful minarets.

Beautiful architecture of Ibrahim Rauza.

Both the buildings have square plans with four minarets at the corners and a bulbous dome at the centre, which emerges from lotus petals. Some call the buildings as “The Taj Mahal of the Deccan (South India)”.

Built around 1584 by Hyder Khan, Upli Burj is an 80 ft high tower hosting 2 large cannons. This is a spherical structure with stone steps winding round the outside. Top of the tower offers a commanding view of the city.

One needs to climb the circular stairs to reach the top.

Jod Gumbaz is a pair of tombs adjacent to each other. Over a period of time they have come to be regarded as a mosque and the monument is also known as Abdul Razaq Dargah.