Press one of the minarets of Sidi Bashir Mosque firmly, and after a couple of seconds the opposite tower will begin to jiggle, even though they are not joined at the base. Nobody knows exactly how. Jhulta Minar, or shaking minarets; confused engineers, historians, and travellers for a couple of centuries. The secret of the shaking tower remains unknown in Ahmedabad.
Where the Minarets Stand
Jhulta Minar stands within the ruins of Sidi Bashir Mosque, near Ahmedabad’s old railway station in the Kalupur area. The mosque was built in the 1400s. Most of the original building is gone now, but the two towers have survived wars, earthquakes, and about 500 years of the city growing around them.
You could walk right past it and not notice anything special. It’s not a huge or fancy structure. It’s just two stone towers, still holding on to a secret nobody has fully solved.
The Shaking Itself
Here’s what actually happens. Someone climbs to the top part of one tower and rocks it back and forth. A few seconds later, without any visible link between them, the second tower starts to move too. This isn’t a trick or an illusion. The shaking is real, and it has been shown to visitors and researchers for many years.
What people don’t agree on is why it happens. Some say the two towers share a hidden base underground, built on purpose to pass movement from one to the other. Others believe the soft sandstone used to build these Jhulta Minars bend just enough to carry the shaking through hidden paths inside. There’s also a theory about earthquakes that builders in the 1400s designed the towers to sway instead of crack, protecting them from earthquake damage long before anyone had proper engineering tools for that kind of thing.
British engineers are said to have taken apart part of one tower in the 1800s, hoping to find the answer once and for all. They put it back together after realizing this wasn’t going to give them a simple explanation. The mystery has stayed unsolved ever since.
Why This Still Matters Today
There’s something rare about a building that still can’t be fully explained, even with all the tools we have today. Most old buildings eventually get their mysteries solved; however, someone studies the materials, runs the right tests, and the mystery quietly ends.
Jhulta Minar hasn’t given up its answer that easily. That’s probably one of the reasons why it continues to attract historians and sightseers instead of becoming yet another ruin. These buildings tell us about the intent behind constructing it. Did the architects really have a solution to a problem related to the tremor phenomenon, or were they displaying their architectural ingenuities and introducing an element of playfulness in a building?”
Ask researchers studying the monument.
In about half a millennium, we don’t know the answers to these intriguing questions.
Visiting Jhulta Minar
The tourist destination is quite easily accessible from the Ahmedabad railway station. A quick trip to Jhulta Minar is definitely worth the time, especially if you are exploring the historical Ahmedabad. You will only require half an hour, at best, to witness and experience it.
The monument is all the more enjoyable when you have a caretaker or a local guide with you to explain the vibrations of the tower, which is its primary draw. Generally, photography is permissible, but like many monuments in a historical city like Ahmedabad, you could confirm with the caretakers available that day, as there can be fluctuations in timings and restrictions.
Where the Curiosity Might Lead You Next
Ahmedabad has a habit of holding on to mysteries like this, old buildings that still don’t add up, even after hundreds of years of people trying to explain them. If this kind of unsolved history interests you, Goya Hills offers something similar further away, set in the Aravalli hills near Udaipur, where old stories and old stone still shape the land. It’s a private villa retreat made for slow, quiet stays surrounded by that same kind of history.
Take a look at what Goya Hills has to offer at goyahills.com if Jhulta Minar has left you thinking about where the next quiet, curious trip should be.
