The Sidi Saiyad Jali at Ahmedabad in Gujarat State of India is an Amazing Piece of Art Work

Taru Mehta
The Sidi Saiyad Jali, which is situated at Ahmedabad in the Gujarat State, stands out as one of the best artistic works of India. This jali is situated in the Lal darwaja area of Ahmedabad city in Gujarat State of India. This in fact is a mosque, where the Muslims come for their daily prayers. This art work is located at the back of the mosque and thousands of tourists visit this mosque to see the fine art work of this jali from all over the country and even from abroad.

This fine art work was made some where in the fourteenth century during the Muslim rulers in the memory of the famous Mogul queen Sipri. This screen was basically made so that the mosque remains fully lighted from inside at all times of the day. The size of this artistic jali is around 16 feet and is in semi circular shape. It is situated at the height of around 20 feet above the ground level. The art work on this jali is so fine that the magnifying glass is required to view its internal intricate design in detail. The design consists of the flowers arrangement in various symmetrical shapes. Some of the portion of this jali also shows the events of the famous war between the King of Ahmedabad and the Rajput Solanki rulers of other towns in Gujarat. The jali is made of smooth white stones and the fine engraving is done with the human hands. It took around 6 years to get this jali completed. Around 45 main artists worked on it, day and night. And the result, what we see is simply out of the world. It is a unique Muslim architectural piece. Its replicas have been put in various famous museums at Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Ajmer. This mosque and the fine art work are maintained by The Archeological department of India, falling under the Central Government of India. It remains open on all week days except Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm for the public view.

Though, the entire mosque is having a very small area, and there is nothing extraordinary in this mosque, the tourists come here only to view the finest art work of this Sidi Saiyad Jali. The State government as well as the central Government of India has designated this jali as one of the national monument of friendship and love. Hence, whenever any guest, invited by the government arrives to see this art work, they are presented with the smaller size silver replica of this jali as a token of love and friendship between the two countries. Such silver replica was presented to queen Elizabeth of England when she had arrived at Ahmedabad before around forty five years with the then Prime Minister of India Shri Nehru to view this piece of art. There is also a small shop at this mosque, which sells the smaller size wooden replicas of this art work along with the photographs of this fine art piece. Such replicas can be purchased in around Rs.360 ($9) per piece. Due to this, the sample of this art work has reached in to the drawing rooms of many families in India as well as in abroad.

The tourists can easily reach the city of Ahmedabad by air, train, or the bus service. Ahmedabad is an international airport and there are regular flights from USA, London, Australia, and the Middle East countries for Ahmedabad. There are around 4 daily flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and other major cities of India for Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is also connected from Mumbai by train. And around fifty numbers of trains are available to travel from Mumbai daily. There are hundreds of hotels available to stay for the tourists, suitable to all kinds of pockets. It would be better to visit Ahmedabad during the winter months from November to March. The summer is extremely hot here and may be avoided if possible.

If you are a lover of art and the history, this Sidi Saiyad Jali at Ahmedabad in Gujarat State of India awaits for your visit eagerly.

Published by Taru Mehta

I am an arts graduate with English and a home maker.  View profile

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