Bijapur

There are numerous ruins, as well as interesting 15th to 17th-century Muslim buildings in Bijapur. You'll find several mosques, mausoleums, palaces and fortifications in town. The two most important mausoleums are the Golgumbaz and Ibrahim Roza mausoleums. The huge 17-century Golgumbaz has a dome that is said to be the second largest in the world (St Peter's in Rome has the largest one). At the base of the dome is the so-called Whispering Gallery, where sounds are supposed to echo 10 times, because of the building's acoustics.

According to many people, the Ibrahim Roza is one of the world's most finely proportioned Islamic monuments. It is also said that its minarets inspired the builders of the Taj Mahal. Other interesting buildings in town include the 16th-century Jami-e-Masjid, the 17th century Hall of Justice and the Asar Mahal that has beautiful frescoes.

Inside Bijapur's Citadel used to be some wonderful palaces once, as well as the Durbar Hall of the Adil Shahi kings. Nowadays they are all in ruins. Most of Bijapur's monuments are unicolored, but south of the city are several colorful ones, including the Chalukyan and Hoysala temples.

There are several hotels and restaurants in town. Bijapur is 1285 km south of Delhi.