The Whispering Walls of the Bhulbhulaiya
In a maze of passages in Lucknow, guides strike a match against one wall, and a visitor across the hall hears it clearly.
What was reported
The Bara Imambara in Lucknow was built in the 1780s by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, partly to give work to people during a famine. Above its great hall, which has no supporting beams, is the Bhulbhulaiya, a maze of hundreds of narrow, identical passages.
Guides show visitors how a whisper, the tearing of paper or the strike of a match on one side of the gallery around the hall can be heard clearly on the far side. It gave rise to the local saying that 'the walls have ears'.
Explanations offered
The effect comes from sound travelling along the hollow walls and curved surfaces with little loss, like the whispering galleries of Gol Gumbaz and St Paul's Cathedral. The maze itself is thought to have helped spread the weight of the great hall's roof.
- When
- Built in the 1780s
- Where
- Bara Imambara, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Witnesses
- Visitors and guides
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.