The stepwells of Gujarat are spiritual monuments to water and stark reminders of the increasing scarcity of this critical resource.
– Samir S. Patel, Archaeology Deputy Editor
The stepwells of the state of Gujarat, India, are part of an architectural tradition that goes back over 1,000 years. The most grandly ornamented stepwells ( known as vavs in Gujarati and baoris in Hindi), were built in the eleventh century. Construction of them continued, even as control over the area shifted from Hindu dynasties to Muslim kingdoms.
Descend into any of Gujarat’s stepwells, and the first thing you might notice is the temperature change—though they are bone dry, it’s nonetheless like stepping into a pool of cool water. The second sensation is disorientation.
They are marvels of proportion and symmetry, but they’re also recursive, Escher-esque, and vertiginous. The final impression, as you look up, down, and through the stepwell, is surprise that something as mundane as a well can be both monumental and intimate.
The typical vav consists of a long, straight staircase that leads to the bottom of a circular or octagonal well shaft, with landings and colonnades on each story along the way. The design is both a clever solution to the region’s boom-and-bust monsoon cycle and a place of social and spiritual significance. In a more typical well, a vessel is lowered by a rope to gather water, but in stepwells people could walk to the water level—near the top just after the monsoon, and six or more stories down just before it—to collect water, bathe, and socialize.
By Samir S. Patel, Deputy Editor of Archaeology.
Discover, Explore and Learn more:
- Archaeology | The Islamic Stepwells of Gujarat, India
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