Stepwell

View of a stepwell at Fatehpur, Shekhawati. This one was featured in the movie Paheli

Chand Baori, in the village of Abhaneri near Bandikui, Rajasthan

Stepwells, also called bawdi (Hindi: बावड़ी) or baoli (Hindi: बावली), barav (Marathi: बारव) or vaav (Gujarati: વાવ) are wells or ponds in which the water can be reached by descending a set of steps. They may be covered and protected, and are often of architectural significance. It can be multi-storied also in which a bullock turns the water wheel ("rehat") to raise the water in the well to the first or second floor.

They are most common in the west of India. They may be also found in the other more arid regions of the subcontinent, extending into Pakistan. The construction may be utilitarian, but sometimes includes significant architectural embellishments.

A number of distinct names, sometimes local, exist for stepwells. In Hindi-speaking regions, they include names based on baudi (including bawdi, bawri, baoli, bavadi, bavdi). In Gujarati and Marwari language, they are usually called vav or vaav.

All forms of the stepwell may be considered to be particular examples of the many types of storage and irrigation tanks that were developed in India, mainly to cope with seasonal fluctuations in water availability. A basic difference between stepwells on the one hand, and tanks and wells on the other, was to make it easier for people to reach the ground water, and to maintain and manage the well.

In some related types of structure (johara wells), ramps were built to allow cattle to reach the water.^{[citation needed]}

The majority of surviving stepwells originally also served a leisure purpose, as well as providing water. This was because the base of the well provided relief from daytime heat, and more such relief could be obtained if the well was covered. This led to the building of some significant ornamental and architectural features, often associated with dwellings and in urban areas. It also ensured their survival as monuments.

Stepwell construction is known to have gone on from at least 600 AD. Most existing stepwells date from the last 800 years. There are suggestions that they may have originated much earlier, and there are some suggestions that precursors to them can be seen in the Indus Valley civilisation.

History

The 18th century Baoli Ghaus Ali Shah, in Farrukhnagar, Haryana.

The first rock-cut step wells in India date from 200-400 AD. Subsequently, the wells at Dhank (550-625 AD) and construction of stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850-950 AD) takes place. The city of Mohenjo-daro has wells which may be the predecessors of the step well; as many as 700 wells have been discovered in just one section of the city leading scholars to believe that 'cylindrical brick lined wells' were invented by the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Babur recorded in his memoirs that he built a baoli in Agra Fort, India. The baoli was completed after the battle of Khanua in 1527 and Babur placed an inscription there to this effect. Babur actually used two "rehats" to carry the water to a higher level. This was altered when Akbar built his palaces (1565–1573). It was necessary to use a third rehat to raise water. Therefore a three-storeyed water pavilion was erected at the mouth of the second well and three overhead tanks were built on its roof. Water from baoli was conducted into these tanks. This plan was again altered when Shah Jahani Mahal was built. Massive walls were raised in the middle of baoli and the rooms were closed up. Alternative arrangements of water supply to the overhead tanks was made. Babur's baoli is now buried in the basement apartments is only partially accessible. The overhead tanks with inscribed tablets have survived intact.^{[citation needed]}

Stepwells in India

Numbers of surviving stepwells can be found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Significant ones include:

The Rani Ki Vav, Patan, Gujarat

• Agrasen ki Baoli, New Delhi
• Rajon ki baoli, New Delhi
• Charthana Barav, Parbhani District, Maharashtra
• The Rani ki vav at Patan, Gujarat
• The Adalaj ni Vav at Adalaj, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• Raniji ki Baori in Bundi, Rajasthan; Bundi has over 60 baolis in and around the town.
• The Pushkarani monument at Vijayanagara, Karnataka

Stepwells in Pakistan

Stepwells from Mughal periods still exist in Pakistan. Some are in preserved conditions while others are not.

• Rohtas Fort, near Jhelum
• Wan Bhachran, near Mianwali
• Losar Baoli, near Islamabad

References

• Rima Hooja: "Channeling Nature: Hydraulics, Traditional Knowledge Systems, And Water Resource Management in India – A Historical Perspective". At infinityfoundation.com
• Livingston, Morna & Beach, Milo (2002). Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 1-56898-324-7.
• Jutta Jain Neubauer The Stepwells of Gujarat: An Art-historical Perspective (2001)
• Morna Livingston Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India (Princeton 2002)
• Stepwells in India at the Open Directory Project
• "Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent - glossary". Indoarch.org. http://www.indoarch.org/arch_glossary.php. Retrieved 2006-12-18. 

External links

• Stepwells of Gujarat
• www.xflo.net, February 2011, Florian Wizorek: Shiva's Cistern (photo documentation of the Abhaneri step well)