After a false start at the Einta Minarets which are also on one end of the Ahmedabad railway station we again set off on our search. This time we reached the right place.
Sidi Bashir Mosque had been built by a slave of the Gujarat Sultans &he’s buried in a tomb next to it. It bears the name Malik Sarang, who was a noble in the court of Mahmud Begarha.Whether the two were the same or whether Sarang built the Mosque isn’t clear tome just now. Need to research it to get the right answer.
Our taxi drivers had kept trying to put us off by saying no one is allowedto enter it.
But I was determined. It was in a small Mosque compound and it was quitewelcoming. It turned out Noone is allowed to climb up the minar or shake it.But you can enter the Mosque.
The Mosque to which the darwaza with the Minar were attached was broken infighting between Maratha’s and the Gujarat Khans.
A British Library photo shows the two standing forlornly with the connecting door.
At some point not many years ago a Mosque has been built by the locals andis being used by them.
They were called jhoolta or Shaking minarets because if one applied pressureto either one of the other would shake hence the name. Yet the passing trains don’t shake them for some reason. Now it’s not allowed.
One can’t climb up but you can admire it!
There is one more Mosque in Ahmedabad called Raj Bibi ki masjid which also has shaking minarets.
Be very specific when you want to visit it which one you want to go to