Imagine walking down a giant staircase, deeper and deeper into the earth, past carved pillars and statues, until you reach cool, still water. That is what visiting a stepwell feels like.
Why build steps to water?
In many parts of India, most of the year’s rain falls in a few monsoon months. For the rest of the year, people needed a way to reach water stored deep underground. The water level rose after the rains and dropped in the dry season, so steps let people walk down to wherever the water was.
Stepwells are called vav in Gujarat and baori or baoli in many parts of north India. They were also cool, shady places to rest. At Chand Baori in Rajasthan, the air at the bottom is about 5 to 6 degrees Celsius cooler than at the top.
The Queen’s Stepwell
Rani ki Vav, in Patan, Gujarat, dates back to the 11th century. It is believed that Queen Udayamati built it in memory of her husband, King Bhima I. It has seven levels and more than 500 main sculptures. Later, floods from the Saraswati river buried it under silt (fine mud and sand). It stayed hidden for a very long time until it was dug out and restored. In 2014, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Since 2018, Rani ki Vav has appeared on the back of the lavender ₹100 note!
Thousands of steps
Chand Baori, in the village of Abhaneri in Rajasthan, is one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India. It has about 3,500 steps arranged over 13 storeys, going down about 30 metres. It is thought to have been built around the 8th or 9th century.
A stepwell in Secunderabad
Telangana has stepwells too. The Bansilalpet stepwell in Secunderabad had fallen out of use and was filled with debris. In 2022, workers cleared more than 2,000 tonnes of it and uncovered a six-level stepwell about 15 metres deep. It was reopened on 5 December 2022.
Try this: Ask an adult to show you a ₹100 note. Turn it over and find Rani ki Vav. Can you spot its rows of pillars and levels?