Sidi Bashir mosque

Infobox religious building


caption=The Shaking Minarets at Ahmedabad, drawn in 1809 by Robert Melville Grindlay
building_name=Sidi Bashir mosque
location=flagicon|India Ahmedabad, India
religious_affiliation=Islam
state=Gujurat
district=Ahmedabad
website=
architect=
architecture_type=Mosque
architecture_style=
year_completed=1452
construction_cost=
capacity=
dome_quantity=
dome_height_outer=
dome_dia_outer=
minaret_quantity=2
minaret_height=

The Sidi Bashir mosque is located in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Due to its unique construction, the mosque is also called Jhulta Minar or Shaking Minarets.

History

It is believed that the mosque was constructed by Sidi Bashir, a slave of Sultan Ahmed Shah. A conflicting story is that the mosque was built by Malik Sarang, a noble in the court of Muhammed Begada, another Sultan of Gujarat. The mosque was completed in 1452. [cite book
title = The Ahmedabad Chronicle: Imprints of a millennium
publisher = Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design
date = 2002
pages=134
chapter = Sultanate Architecture]

Minarets

There are two minarets in the mosque, each of which is three stories tall with carved balconies. A gentle shaking of either minaret results in the other minaret vibrating after a few seconds, though the connecting passage between them remains free of vibrationFact|date=September 2008. The actual cause of this is unknown as of yet. This phenomenon was first observed in the 19th century by Monier M. Williams, an English Sanskrit scholar. [ cite web
publisher = All India Tour Travel Guide
title = Siddi bashir mosque (shaking minarets)
url=http://www.tourtravelworld.com/hot_spots/ahmedabad/siddi_bashir_mosque_(shaking_minarets)/
accessdate=2006-09-07]

Other shaking minarets

Another mosque in Ahmedabad called the Raj Bibi mosque also had shaking minarets similar to the ones at the Sidi Bashir mosque. But the British dismantled one of the minarets in order to study the construction. The minaret could not be put back togetherFact|date=September 2008.

There is also one in Isfahan, Iran called Monar Jonban (shaking minarets) with almost the same properties.

Present condition

The mosque is located opposite the Ahmedabad Railway station and is one of the most popular tourist destinations of Ahmedabad. Entry to the shaking minaret was prohibited following an incident at Qutb Minar in Delhi, where a stampede resulted in many children being crushed.

References