Stepwell

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Stepwells are in essence wells 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. 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 bawri, baoli, bavadi). In Gujaratiand marwari language, they are usually called vav.

The basic purpose 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.

Image:Ranikivav14.jpg

A number of surviving stepwells however originally served a leisure purpose. The base of the well provided some 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.

Stepwell construction is known to have gone on from at least 600 CE. 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.

Numbers of surviving stepwells can be found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. There are also smaller numbers elsewhere. Significant ones include;

the Rani ki vav at Patan, Gujarat,and Chandinath ki vav of Bhinmal is an important ornamental and architectural monument
the Pushkarani monument at Vijayanagara, Karnataka
several existing structures in Delhi, including a recent pre-Mughal finding in the Red Fort