DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0313
Chap. IX.
BIJAPUR,
277
It is evident from an inspection of the figure, or from any
section of the dome, how easy it must be to construct the first
segment from the springing; and if this is very solidly built
and placed on an immoveable basis, the architect may play
with the rest; and he must be clumsy indeed if he cannot
make it perfectly stable. In the East, they did play with their
domes, and made them of all sorts of fantastic forms, seeking
to please the eye more than to consult the engineering neces-
sities of the case, and yet it is the rarest possible contingency to
find a dome that has fallen through faults in the construction.
In Europe architects have been timid and unskilled in
dome-building; but with our present engineering knowledge
it would be easy to construct far larger and more daring domes
than even this of Muhammad’s tomb, without the smallest fear
of accident.
The external ordonnance of this building is as beautiful as
that of the interior. At each angle stands an octagonal tower
eight storeys high, simple and bold in its proportions, and
crowned by a dome of great elegance. The lower part of the
building is plain and solid, pierced only with such openings
as are requisite to admit light and air ; at the height of 83 ft.
a cornice projects to the extent of 12 ft. from the wall, or
nearly twice as much as the boldest European architect ever
attempted. Above this an open gallery gives lightness and
finish to the whole, each face being further relieved by two
small minarets.
The same daring system of construction was carried out
by the architects of Bijapur in their civil buildings. The great
Audience Hall or Gagan Mahall (A.D. 1561), for instance (Wood-
cut No. 419), opens in front with a central arch 60 ft. 9 in. wide,
which, had it been sufficiently abutted, might have been a grand
architectural feature ; as it is, it is too like an engineering work
to be satisfactory. Its cornice was in wood, and some of its
supports are still in their places. Indeed, it is one of the
peculiarities of the architecture of this city that, like the
English architects in their roofs, those of Bijapur clung to
wood as a constructive expedient long afteq its use had been
abandoned in other parts of India. The Asar-i-Mubarak or
Asar Mahall, is entirely open on one side, the roof being
supported only by two wooden pillars with immense bracket-
capitals ; and the internal ornaments are in the same material.
The result of this practice was the same at Bijapur as in England
-—far greater depth of framing and greater richness in archi-
tectural ornamentation, and an intolerance of constructive
awkwardness which led to the happiest results in both countries.
Among the edifices in the city is the Sat-Manzila, one of
BIJAPUR,
277
It is evident from an inspection of the figure, or from any
section of the dome, how easy it must be to construct the first
segment from the springing; and if this is very solidly built
and placed on an immoveable basis, the architect may play
with the rest; and he must be clumsy indeed if he cannot
make it perfectly stable. In the East, they did play with their
domes, and made them of all sorts of fantastic forms, seeking
to please the eye more than to consult the engineering neces-
sities of the case, and yet it is the rarest possible contingency to
find a dome that has fallen through faults in the construction.
In Europe architects have been timid and unskilled in
dome-building; but with our present engineering knowledge
it would be easy to construct far larger and more daring domes
than even this of Muhammad’s tomb, without the smallest fear
of accident.
The external ordonnance of this building is as beautiful as
that of the interior. At each angle stands an octagonal tower
eight storeys high, simple and bold in its proportions, and
crowned by a dome of great elegance. The lower part of the
building is plain and solid, pierced only with such openings
as are requisite to admit light and air ; at the height of 83 ft.
a cornice projects to the extent of 12 ft. from the wall, or
nearly twice as much as the boldest European architect ever
attempted. Above this an open gallery gives lightness and
finish to the whole, each face being further relieved by two
small minarets.
The same daring system of construction was carried out
by the architects of Bijapur in their civil buildings. The great
Audience Hall or Gagan Mahall (A.D. 1561), for instance (Wood-
cut No. 419), opens in front with a central arch 60 ft. 9 in. wide,
which, had it been sufficiently abutted, might have been a grand
architectural feature ; as it is, it is too like an engineering work
to be satisfactory. Its cornice was in wood, and some of its
supports are still in their places. Indeed, it is one of the
peculiarities of the architecture of this city that, like the
English architects in their roofs, those of Bijapur clung to
wood as a constructive expedient long afteq its use had been
abandoned in other parts of India. The Asar-i-Mubarak or
Asar Mahall, is entirely open on one side, the roof being
supported only by two wooden pillars with immense bracket-
capitals ; and the internal ornaments are in the same material.
The result of this practice was the same at Bijapur as in England
-—far greater depth of framing and greater richness in archi-
tectural ornamentation, and an intolerance of constructive
awkwardness which led to the happiest results in both countries.
Among the edifices in the city is the Sat-Manzila, one of