History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c30.47

v2.c30.47

The same daring system of construction was carried out by the architects of Bîjâpûr in their civil buildings. The great Audience Hall or Gagan Mahall (A.D. 1561), for instance (Woodcut 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 Bîjâpûr clung to wood as a constructive expedient long after its use had been abandoned in other parts of India. (The Âsâr-i-Mubârak or Âsâr 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 Bîjâpûr as in England—far greater depth of framing and greater richness in architectural ornamentation, and an intolerance of constructive awkwardness which led to the happiest results in both countries.