Ahmedabad is believed to be the only city in the world where you find swinging minarets, but strangely, after the 1985 riots, the minarets at Bibiji's Masjid, Gomtipur, built in 1454 by Sultan Muzzafarshah Ahmedshah and Sultan Muhammadshah Ahmedshah in memory of their mother, have been dropped off the tourism route.

While an old tourism brochure mentions the minarets along with the two at Sidi Bashir's mosque, the colourful new brochure only mentions the shaking minarets of Sidi Bashir's mosque. It does not mention the older and larger Gomtipur structure.

It is 14 years since sightseers visited the minaret and twenty since the Archaeological Survey of India conducted any kind of repairs. Though keeperRehmat Ali has fond memories of the Japanese and British visitors and even flaunts a Polaroid picture of his father Abdul Qudus taken by a `sahib', the real stories are of his grandfather Husain Shah's times.

``He used to shake the minaret for the sahibs, and they would just dig into their pockets and give him everything that came in hand. Of course, at that time, there were two minarets so if you shook one, the other would shake automatically,'' Rehmat Ali says. It was also during Husain Shah's stint as keeper that the British removed 20 feet of the exquisitely carved minaret to find out if there was a spring inside that made them swing, says Rehmat Ali. ``They found nothing and could never put the structure back.''

According to Gujarat Tourism officials, the minarets were dropped from publicity brochures because the ASI banned shaking them. Why has the same logic not held for the Sidi Bashir mosque, where shaking the minarets has also been banned, goes without comment. According to Shabir Ahmed from theMasjid Maintenance Committee, Gomptipur was marked as a communally sensitive area after the riots of 1985. ``It is a wonder of the world and tourism should be encouraged. Now it is forgotten completely and there is none to even take care of regular upkeep,'' he says.

Forgotten and ignored, the minarets have fallen into a state of disrepair. But on the anvil is an ambitious Rs 2 lakh project to put life back into them. Stones have been heaped up outside the mosque for the past three months. Superintending archaeologist T R Gehlot says that work will start within the month and in the financial year it will be completed.

``The top dome leaks and we will be using cement concrete to do it up again. The cracked terrace will be rebuilt and checked for leakage, dead concrete on the dome will be relaid and a porch that has sunk about two feet due to disrepair will be redone,''he promises.

Odd couple

They make an odd couple. One minaret large and towering 110 feet into the skyline, the other brutallychopped. The top of the minaret at Bibiji's Mosque of 1454 was removed by the British. They were trying to unravel the mystery behind its magnificent swing, say local residents. According to the ASI manual, however, it was possibly brought down by lightning.

The rubble has been lying around for years. Bits and pieces of carved stone serve as steps to the mosque, as tombstones in the nearby graveyard, and even as bird baths. Larger chunks lie partially buried, with wild flowers growing out of crevices. With the ASI stepping in for repairs, keepers of the mosque are hoping that the missing 20 foot top will be reconstructed and the glory of the monument restored. However, chances of this happening appear slim. ``Till we have complete details of the structure, it is impossible to reconstruct the minaret. The task is impossible,''says Gehlot.