Rani Ki Vav: Where Every Step Has Its Own Tale

Priyanka Rout

Rani Ki Vav: Where Every Step Has Its Own Tale

The tale of the queen’s stepwell extends from the gorgeous town of Gujarat to the intricate drawings on the Indian currency. The Queen’s Stepwell has found its rightful place in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Made by a queen, this stepwell is studded with structures of all kinds.

The majestic stepwell of a queen; Image Source: Liamtra

Stepwells, like cisterns, aqueducts, and fountains, were major construction traditions in India, just as they were in Western and Middle Eastern societies. Stepwells, known as vavs in Gujarati, were invented in India, hundreds of years ago to capture and retain water for drinking, showering, washing clothes, and irrigating fields.

Early stepwells were trench in fine sand, but they grew into intricate pieces of engineering and art over time. They not only brought water for people and farmers, but they also served as a haven for visitors and a place to mingle, worship, and contemplate. Stepwells, according to Victoria S. Lautman, are "the ultimate public monuments," accessible to everyone but the lowest-caste Hindu.

The tale of its construction extends to a time when the Solanki dynasty ruled over Gujarat and Rajasthan. Udayamati commissioned the stepwell as a memorial to her spouse, King Bhimdev I. He governed Gujarat and adjacent Rajasthan from 1022 AD until his demise in 1064. Bhimdev, a scion of the Solanki clan, took the reins of control in his hand to bring political stability in western India, where art and culture thrived.

It was also a time of immense religious zeal, with Hindu benefactors commissioning a frenzy of temples and step-wells. The Queen's Stepwell in Patan – then perhaps the capital city – was among the most impressive. Rani ki Vav is massive, measuring 210 feet long and 65 feet broad. Carved friezes, ornamental granite columns, and hundreds of detailed artworks met the eye as one went further.

The Queen's Stepwell looks like a wide gap in the earth when approached. However, tourists soon see a hallway of steps leading down the splendor below. The magnitude of Rani ki Vav, according to Kirit Mankodi, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Mumbai and author of The Queen's Stepwell at Patan, "is simply astounding in terms of size, a profusion of sculptures, and quality of workmanship."

The number of stepped platforms (seven), spacious pavilions (four), sculpted panels (several hundreds), direct carvings (500 hundred), and minor sculptures (1,000) distinguish Rani ki Vav as "the most ambitiously constructed stepwell of its period," according to Mankodi.

Hundreds of carved bas-reliefs, each approximately 314 feet tall and intricately detailed with religious, mythical, and secular iconography, frequently referencing literary works, adorn the sidewalls of the terraced terraces. There is a stone sculpted to look like the region's embroidered textiles, and a sensual performer is holding a mango and pressing her foot to a tree to represent fertility.

Covered pavilions supported by intricately decorated Corinthian columns span the tower at various levels, shoring up the walls and displaying Hindu art. There's also a ponderous elephant, a naughty imp, and a vase brimming with vegetation, a celebration of water's holiness.

Descending into the Vav is like traveling back in time to another universe or being lured into a lovely illusion, the enchantment of which only breaks when you resurface on the manicured grounds that now surround the heritage monument.

The engineering, which had been refined over generations, was brilliant. Water entered the well through an aperture, with the level rising or lowering according to the season. People descend many stairs to obtain water during the dry months, but groups may reach the topmost steps whenever the water level is high during the monsoon season. The 88-foot-deep well cylinder sits at the western edge of the structure, its top exposed to the skies, its inside magnificently carved with images of deity or mathematical motifs.

India is recognized as a religious country. Four major religions were established here (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism), while Hinduism remains the most popular, with three-fourths of Indians adhering to it. Hinduism is a 5,000 year-old religion — and a complicated one, with numerous holy books and deities, three of whom are claimed to dominate the world: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. Hindus believe that Vishnu descends to earth in various forms to safeguard the planet during times of evil or ignorance (avatars).

The Dashavatara – or ten incarnations of Vishnu – march across a terrace wall on level three at Rani ki Vav. This significant frieze emphasizes the importance of step-wells as a site of Hindu ritual — an underground temple.

Varaha (the boar) is one of Vishnu's avatars, revered for killing a powerful demon. The first incarnation is considered to be Matsya (the fish), followed by Kurma (the tortoise). Vamana (the dwarf) can transform into a giant, while either man or beast cannot slay Narasimha (half-man, half-lion). Parashurama is an axe-wielding warrior.

The heroic personalities Rama, Krishna, and Buddha have yet to manifest, while the tenth incarnation, Kalki, has still to arise. He sits on a white horse, sword drawn, anticipating the end of the current period, or Kali-yuga when wickedness and evil shall be eliminated. Apsaras, celestial feminine dancers that come in large numbers at Rani ki Vav, accompany Vishnu. Some apsaras are innocent, such as those gazing in a mirror or applying makeup; others, such as those carrying a skull cup or a bone club, depict dark cults; and still, others are seductive maidens with serpents slithering over their limbs.