Step Wells Tourist Attraction

Stretch your imagination to wander among the caravans drifting in the semi desert regions of Western India. You are travelling by night, guided by the star strewn sky that tells you the time. It is going to be day break and soon you will be approaching your cherished halt - a vav (step well) where you will be spending a greater part of the day relaxing and refreshing yourself for the next day’s (night) journey.


¤ The Bygone Era of Gujarat

This is fifteenth century Gujarat and night journeys are in vogue, in order to avoid the fierce midday sun or the afternoon storm that can besmear you and your baggage. No one fears travelling in the night as robberies are few and far between. Imagine the 32 years of Sultan Ahmed Shah’s reign with only two murders on record!


¤ The Exquisite Wells

Back to our deluxe accommodation for the day - the pretty vav which is characterized by a long stepped corridor descending down - beneath the earth’s surface and punctuated in-between with spacious storeys that finally leads to the pool of water with least possible exposure to the sun.
A labyrinthine interior of the vav’s underground spaces is dark and cool - the ultimate that a weary traveller can ask and expect. Our vav is already crowded with traders and travellers from far flung places with their horses and camel carts camped near the nearby tents.
Given Gujarat’s coastline and numerous harbours, it exposed the land to the outside world and Gujaratis still recount the romantic tales of caravans laden with silk, pearls, carpets, etc traversing through Gujarat and almost the same routes were adopted by the armies for offence and defence.


¤ Ritual Associated With These Magnificent Wells

There is a rush of villagers for their daily fill, few of the elderly people are absorbed in their ritual oblations to the sun while some of the women have gathered to appease the jal-deva (water deity) in order to be blessed with a boon of fertility. Another group of girls approach to propitiate the gods with offerings like milk, grain and rice. A young mother with over a month old baby has come for the thanks giving, besides praying for the longevity of the child. In fact she will be considered impure until she invokes the jal deva with various offerings.


¤ Gujarat- A Home of Numerous Step Wells

Gujarat is home to hundreds of step wells scattered throughout the state. In fact constructing a well was held to be a pious deed that absolved ones’ sin and certainly it earned more merit than mere sacrifices.
Almost each village or town boasted of at least one vav. For centuries the vavs have served their purpose but finally they have given up to the ravages of time. But today a deserted lot they are left for, select fly by wire tourists to peep in from the top or descend the steps and appreciate the consummate skill of bygone craftsmen.
Most of the step wells withered with time while others were left unattended by the villagers who preferred to move in search of greener pastures. However some of the vavs have survived as structures and still fewer among them continue to supply water while some are venerated for their spiritual presence.


¤ The Construction of Wells

A typical well is made up of the Mandapa (the entrance pavilion), which forms the main approach at the ground level; the Kuta (the flight of steps) leads down to the water or Kund (tank) at the bottom. Most of the wells are decorated with sculptures on all available surfaces. While appreciating these works of art we often forget to appreciate the science and engineering skills with which so many pillars and lintels are made to support the five or seven storeys and that too everything under the surface of the earth.


¤ Earliest Step Wells of Gujarat

The earliest among the step wells in Gujarat are nestled among the Junagarh hills - Navghan vav and Adi - Chadi vav. The two-step wells appear to have been patiently carved out of soft rocks and these stupendous projects have been executed to great depths - a marvel even by modern standards. A local ballad sums it up - ‘if one has not seen Adi - Chadi vav he has missed a great thing in his life.” However in the long list of structurally created step wells one has to revert to Dhank where sixth century Jhilani and Manjushri vavs can be seen. Almost five centuries later another step well sprang up near the famous Sun temple at Modhera. Besides there is a distinct kind of open well or rather a tank, which is attached to the temple. The lateral formation of steps make up for the large tank punctuated with a number of miniature shrines at all levels.


¤ Rani Ki Vav In Patan- Most Significant Well

Rani ki vav
in Patan is the most magnificent of all step wells created in 1032 A.D. by Rani Udayamati. She was the queen of the most powerful Chalukiya king, Bhimadeva whose reign is marked with manifold building activities. A greater part of this vav remained buried for years while the exposed portions were dismembered to embellish another step well -

Bahadur Singh ki vav
in the same village. Though in ruins and dilapidated to a great deal, the remaining part of Rani ki vav continues to impress for its grandeur in dimension and profuse ornamentation.

¤ Splendid Carvings On Wells

Almost the entire horde of Hindu pantheon seems to have been chiseled on the walls of the well, besides the sculptured niches and the corridors that gradually diminishes as the well draws nearer at the depth of 285 feet.
Vaishnava affiliated sculptures depicting him in various forms can be seen. The most pictorial among them is depicted on the walls of the well that shows him reclining on the couch of Sheshnaga (Lord of snakes). Apsaras / devanganas / surasundaris (female figures) are in abundance. Possibly they are the best symbolic representatives of reproductive powers of nature.
For instance, a scene depicts the devanganas in a standing posture under a mango tree, holding her left breast, which suggests fertility and maturity just like the mango and the mango tree. often female forms have been visualised with a mirror, pitcher or child in hand or simply emulating dance forms. In decorating the Rani ki vav, the craftsmen appear to have been given a free will to play with their imagination. Some of the gestures can be interpreted as religious and they are often compared to sculptures in Modhera Sun temple, Buddhist Stupa in Sanchi, Vimala Vasahi temple of Mt. Abu and even Khajuraho. Few of the images are simply of way erotic conjunctions like the monkey pulling female attire or the damsels themselves undoing their lower garments with scorpions climbing their thighs. With so many sequences of love and passion, can war be far off? The artists rightly included combats, weapons and warriors with war like postures confronting opponents in shape of man or animal.


¤ Medieval Waterways-- The Tank

A little distance from Rani ki vav are some interesting outlines of medieval waterways. It was early twelfth century when Jayasimha Siddha Raja excavated artificial lakes.
The largest among them was Sahasarlinga Tank, which must have been an immense reservoir as evident from the surviving remains of the brick embankments and the giant size sluiceways. In the nearby museum one can see the various statues that were recovered while excavating the Rani ki vav and the Sahasarlinga waterways.

Mata Bhavani vav
Mata Bhavani vav in Asarva, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad is another step well assigned to the Chalukiyan period and dedicated to Amba-Bhavani. It is noted for its religious significance rather than its architectural appeal.
The well is simple and modest in make with minor ornamentation in the galleries leading to the stretch of steps that travels down to the pool of water.
However, some pre-medieval carvings and sculptors can be admired on the parapets that house the canopied roofs, niches and friezes.


Dada Harir ki vav
Asarva is famous for another step well popularly called Dada Harir ki vav. This vav brings us to the early sixteenth century reign of Sultan Mehmud Begarah (1458-1511) - the most outspoken among the Gujarat sultans. Bai Harir Sultani was the superintendent of the royal harem and she had planned the vav along with her mausoleum and mosque amidst a sprawling garden interspersed with fruit bearing trees.

Bai Harir, whose mausoleum is adjacent to the vav must be turning in her grave at the fate of her grand complex which has run out of water and the trees have disappeared since long. Her only consolation may be the muezzin’s call to prayer echoing from the mosque.
The courtyard of the mosque is worth observing for few of the sealed passages that once gave way to the tunnel underneath were possibly connected to the vav as well with some spacious underground alcoves. In its hey days this place must have been an ideal halt for the travellers to retire under the shady trees, slip into the cool galleries of the vav or to be a part of the congregation, praying in the mosque.

The vav is reached through a flight of steps that remain uniform throughout the descent. The pool at the bottom leads to the shaft of the well, which is divided by an arched doorway. Besides, there is a narrow spiral stairway leading to the well. Being a Moslem monument, it is bereft of figurative decorations, which has been replaced with floral motifs. However Hindu hand or influences are evident from few of the animal figures. Inscriptions in Sanskrit and Persian tell us about the cost of construction, which was 329,000 Mahmudis (gold coin) of the Begara era. Besides other details and obeisance to the Creator, the epigraph reads, “ this well was built at a place where four roads meet, crowded with good men, who come from four quarters. As long as the moon and sun endure, may be sweet water of the well be drunk by all men.”


Adalaj Vav
Adalaj vav, 18kms from Ahmedabad, closely resembles Dada Harir vav in its size and layout but it is rich in ornamentation and was built just prior to it. With the passage of time this step well has become commemorative of unrequited love and thereby hangs the folk tale. Water can still be seen in the well and it is attributed to the living spirit of Rudba Devi, the beautiful wife of Veer Singh.

Sultan Begara in his quest for expansion had subdued Dandai Desh and killed the Vaghela king, Veer Singh. He sent forth his matrimonial proposal to Rudba Devi who begged for time in order to complete the vav in memory of her dead husband. The Sultan agreed but he never knew that the queen would drag the work for twenty long years. Still it remained incomplete as evident from the missing canopy. The Sultan renewed his request for marriage and the queen responded by plunging herself from the balcony of the well and thus met her watery death. In other words it became a jal samadhi and thus she sacrificed herself to save her honour and also to appease the jal devi, who would be responsible for the perpetual flow of water.

¤ Madha Stepwell Associated With Great Sacrifices

A number of self-sacrifices are recorded in annals of Gujarat. Human sacrifice is the most cherished one, so goes the general belief. In fact one of the folk songs attributed to the Madha step wellin Vadhavan records a fortuneteller who suggests that Madha vav demands a pair - a son and a daughter - in - law! In fact the number of rituals and practices associated with vavs, the various folk songs, myths and legends still flourish in Gujarat.

The inscription at Adalaj vav suggests the construction cost to be five lakh tankas (silver coins), which was spent by the queen, in order to ensure her husband’s safe passage in the abode of gods. The numerous pillars, balconies and niches that hold each storey of the vav are profusely decorated with fine details. The ornamentation here is of mixed nature. The Hindu motifs are prominent but the florid and geometric patterns, popular among the Muslims can also be seen. Though the inscription credits three Hindu masons but it is believed that the queen employed Muslim masons as well. They are believed to have earned their own death when they replied to the Sultan that they were capable of building still better vavs.


¤ Halical vav

in Pavagarh is another interesting and unusual well attributed to Visvakarma Vastushastra where the entrance staircase leads to a spiral stairway that further culminates into the well. In fact the spiral stairway gradually becomes the wall of the well and a timid soul should avoid these steps that make him dizzy with the sight of water that gets closer with each step. At Wankaner Palace one finds a more recent (1935) step well built in sandstone but worked out with marble surface. It reflects the palatial outlook and the purpose was simply to provide a summer escape by lowering the temperature down below.