Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/321

 CHAP. IX. BIJAPUR. 275 balanced has any tendency to move, it is to fall inwards, which from its circular form is impossible ; while the action of the weight of the pendentives being in the opposite direction to that of the dome, it acts like a tie, and keeps the whole in equilibrium, without interfering at all with the outline of the dome. In the Pantheon and most European domes a great mass of masonry is thrown on the haunches, which -entirely hides the external form, and is a singularly clumsy expedient in every respect compared with the elegant mode of hanging the weight inside. 417. Section of Tomb of Muhammad at Bijaptir. Scale 50 ft. to i in. Notwithstanding that this expedient gives the dome a perfectly stable basis to stand upon, which no thrust can move, still, looking at the section (Woodcut No. 417), its form is such that it appears almost paradoxical that such a building