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| Sidi Bashir Mosque, Ahmedabad.islamic-arts.org |
The Indian subcontinent has a plethora of unique historical monuments of great architectural grandeur, beauty and mystery dating back to several centuries. The monuments include forts, Hindu, Jain and Buddhists temples and mosques. Some these monuments such as the Big temple complex (1010 AD; built by great Chola emperor Raja Raja) at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, Gol Gumbaz (the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur completed in 1656), world's second largest dome with special acoustic whispering gallery at Bijapur, Karnataka, Buland Darwaza, the 54 meter high entrance gate at Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra (built in 1576 A.D. by Mogul emperor Akbar), etc., are just a fraction of examples. The Sidi Bashir Mosque in Ahmadabad is odd, it has shaking minarets.
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| Sidi Bashir Mosque,Ahmedabad, islamic-arts.org |
Sidi Bashir Mosque in Ahmedabad, one of the largest cities in India and close to Gandhinagar, Capital of Gujarat, western India has a unique tourist attraction and nobody can miss this, if holidaying in that city. What is so special about this old historical monument? The construction of this mosque was done in such an ingenious way, it's two tall minarets shake. Do not panic and take to heels!! They will never fall, though make your heart throb! This mosque is referred to as ''Jhulta Minara'' or Shaking Minarets. It is believed that this strange mosques was built in 1461 with shaking minarets near the railway station by Sidi Bashir, a slave of Sultan Ahmed Shah, the ruler at that time. The three story high ornate minarets have independently balanced balconies that go round the tower. Another version is a noble, one Malik Sarang in the court of Muhammed Begada, another Sultan of Gujarat was instrumental in the construction of this mosque to withstand earthquakes and the aftershocks.
The mosque is located close to the Sarangpur gate and from the busy Ahmedabad railway Station. Jhulta Minara 's shaking minarets have left the tourists and design engineers baffled and awestruck. One minaret is 100 feet tall and has three levels and the other one is just 84 feet tall. When one of the two minarets is shaken gently, the other minaret experiences gentle vibrations or mild tremor for seconds but strangely, the adjacent structures or connecting passage are free from vibration.
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| shaking minarets,Sidi Bashir Mosque Ahmedabad,islamic-arts.org |
The intriguing fact is the minarets are not interconnected structurally, but mild shaking does occur. The reason for the cause of shaking has been a puzzle, a possible explanation is not yet given.
This mystery was first observed by the English Sanskrit Scholar, Monsieur M Williams in 19th century, During the British rule this strange architectural wonder aroused the curiosity of British experts. They wanted to solve the mystery behind the mild vibration effects and tried to dismantle a part of them. It was just a vain attempt. The minarets near the Sarangpur gate (darwaza) were damaged by the British experts. These minarets are an architectural marvel and so far no one has replicated them.
Tit-Bits:
Ahmed Shah (1411to1442), a Sultan of Gujarat founded Ahmedabad as a capital of the Gujarat Sultanate in 1412 and also founded Ahmednagar (now Himatnagar) in 1426. Ahmedabad is named after him. Mahatma Gandhi's Ashram ''Sabarmati'' is near Ahmedabad
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidi_Bashir_Mosque
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| Sidi Bashir Mosque in Ahmedabad..pinterest.com |
Tit-Bits:
Ahmed Shah (1411to1442), a Sultan of Gujarat founded Ahmedabad as a capital of the Gujarat Sultanate in 1412 and also founded Ahmednagar (now Himatnagar) in 1426. Ahmedabad is named after him. Mahatma Gandhi's Ashram ''Sabarmati'' is near Ahmedabad
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidi_Bashir_Mosque
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