Sidi Bashir’s Shaking Minarets
Northeast of the Astodia Gate and a short distance south of the railway station are Sidi Bashir’s Shaking Minarets, two tall towers connected by a bridge, which was once the entrance to the old mosque (now replaced by a modern one). It is so-called because when one minaret is shaken, the other begins to vibrate. It is still not known why it happens.
The minarets were built in 1461. A slave of Sultan Sidi Bashir built it. People say that the minarets were designed to shake so in order to avoid damage during earthquakes. A European Sanskrit scholar Monier M. Williams first noticed the minarets shaking. Each minaret has three storeys. These minarets are about 21.34 meters high. There are delicately carved stone balconies, around each storey. If either of the minarets is shaken, the other starts to vibrate after a few seconds.
It is one of the miracles of the Ahmedabadi architecture. After the Qutab Minar tragedy in Delhi, climbing up the Minaret was also banned.
