The Inverted Pyramid that Harvests Water: Abhaneri’s Chand Bawdi

The largest and deepest stepped pond to have been constructed in India lies in the small village of Abhaneri, which is en route to Jaipur in Rajasthan. A confluence of Hindu and Islamic architecture, it is a spectacular example of sustainable water-harvesting structures of the past as well as the mathematical and scientific prowess of medieval Indian societies.

The contrast between light and shadow at Chand Bawdi on a particularly sunny day. Source: Flickr| Raita Kuwahara

The upper levels of the Muslim palace were added by the Mughals; thus the Bawdi exhibits two classical periods of water building in one sitting. The arcade above the ground which encloses the bawdi presently was also a Mughal addition, distinguished by the green stone columns with a bulging base and the cusped arches. The high-domed spaces of the palace which rested on the Hindu portion, still below ground level, could be entered through interior steps from the arcade. All these spaces looked inward at the well filled with water, and opened at the back into the well shaft, enabling cross ventilation. Details like the jali screen inserted into the heavy blocks of the side walls filtered the light entering inside, creating a meditative environment.

The simple yet ingenious tactics of construction enable the temperature at the bottom of the stepwell to be 6-8 degrees cooler than the outside desert. Nestled in the earth and built to harvest rainwater with local permeable stones, the inverted ziggurat configuration of the bawdi separates cold air at the bottom from the hot desert winds. The comfortable environment invited community gatherings, further amplified by the provision of a performance stage at the centre of the pavilion. The Archaeological Department prevents visitors from entering below for purposes of safety, except once a year during the day of Jal Jhulni Ekadashi in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, when the Abhaneri festival is held.

The locals believe that Chand Bawdi was constructed in a day by a supernatural power — a djinn who, according to the folklore, continues to reside in the stepwell and prevents anyone who descends from ascending back in the same order. It was also believed that if one drops any belonging inside the stepwell, it would never be recovered.

For the reader:

1. Bawdi- step wells that were used in ancient India to harvest water, especially in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

2. Rise- Depth of each stair

3. Fractal- The term ‘fractal’ actually originates from the Latin word ‘fractus’ which means ‘broken’. Fractal means, the recursive geometrical arrangements, bearing self-similarity on different scales

4. Sheshasayee Vishnu – Sleeping Vishnu, the form of Lord Vishnu who is believed to have rested on the serpent in the Ocean of Milk.

5. Ziggurat- Stepped pyramids usually characteristic of Mesopotamia/ Iraq from 2200-500 BCE

6. Djinn- also known as Genies and similar to spirits, yet not of a human origin

7. Domain of Naga- Patal Lok / referred to as underworld

Constructed by King Chanda and named after him in the 9th century, one can only imagine the amount of mathematical precision engaged in the construction of a stepped well almost 100 feet deep — the height of 13 storeys! A stepwell so deep was essential to meet the water demands of the locals in the torrid weather of the Rajasthan desert as a dependable source of water.

It is planned within an eight-by-eight or nine-by-nine grid, with each side spanning 200 feet, and yet the 3500 steps of the bawdi (which translates to ”well”) present an almost 70-degree descent to reach the water in the chasm. Roughly every step has an 18-inch width over an 8-inch rise and a triangular unit of six steps is repeated along three of the tapering sides until it terminates in a square pool of water at the bottom, unintentionally evoking fractal geometry. Seventeen types of solutions were used while trying to resolve the intersection of the stairs at the corners, which merely shows the ramifications of trying to conceive a two-dimensional pattern in reality. Morna Livingston describes it in her book Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India:

“The wall is so steep that the top of the stair triangles, seen from the pond’s brim, alternatively hide and reveal people going down from above. “

As one stares into the abyss on a hot summer day, the shadows and still air create the effect that the steps mirror the ripples of the water. Combined with the religious chanting of priests in the past, who would descend to cleanse themselves, the stepwell would come alive with vibrations, in sound and sight.

Chand Bawdi was constructed in the direct vicinity of the Harshadmata Temple. A dip in the bawdi preceded a visit to the temple. In the 10th century, Muhammad Ghazi ransacked the temple and its surroundings; the remnants of which are the sculptures found along the arcade.

“It was completely unexpected, incredibly shocking, and subversive in that we’re conditioned to look up at architecture, not down into it.”

— Victoria Lautman, an LA-based journalist, photographer, and author of ‘The Vanishing Stepwells of India’, after her first glimpse of the Chand Bawdi.

On the Jaipur-Agra highway, lost amidst a vast desert, it is very easy to miss the small village of Abhaneri. A plain low wall stands in the village, whose name ‘Abha-Nagari’ translates to ‘the city of brightness’, and if one happened to visit the place before the Mughal rule, this wall too would have been absent. With little surprise, the Chand Bawdi, meaning ‘moon/silver well’, which lies beyond this parapet, is a surreal revelation to anyone.

At its peak, Chand Bawdi, with its whitewashed walls and painted pavilions, shone white in the moonlight. Encircling the bawdi, it becomes obvious that there is no absolute viewpoint. Like a composite photograph, the eye is drawn to the ambiguous water edge at every instance; with steps pleating in and out of the pool. The effect created is so encapsulating that Chand Bawdi has often been the backdrop of movies; featuring as the prison pit in Christopher Nolan’s Batman series and Bollywood’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007).

Along with the repeating pattern of steps on three sides, the fourth side includes three levels of shaded pavilions. Most ancient Indian architecture is fascinating because it combines architectural components from several eras and cultures. The Chand Bawdi offers a fairly typical illustration of how Hindu and Islamic architectural features can coexist. The shrines of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Mahishasuramardini, as well as a carving of Sheshasayee Vishnu that imitates his abode on the Ksheera Samudra **(’the ocean of milk’), are located closest to the water on the fourth side.

Livingston notes that the Hindu columns at the bottom are primitive and blocky, **with exquisite carvings on their black stone capitals, and rest on thick carved balcony railings which are so high that one had to stand to be able to see out. It enclosed dark, simple, well-proportioned corridors, and a space for the bullocks to pull the water wheel which would have been supported between two projecting slabs; remains of which can be spotted even today.

The proportion and slope of the stepwell when compared with a human. Source: Flickr | Syahrel Hashim

Streets of Abhaneri, the place where the step well is found. Source: Flickr| Maurizio Paganin

Performance stage on the pavilion. Source: Flickr| Tonino

Aerial view of Chand Bawdi. Source: Facebook| @dav1dambriz

Remnants from the Harshadmata temple are found in the arcade of the step well. Source: Flickr| Chili Temple

The steps are almost non-discernable without the thin shadow edge. Source: Flickr | Florian Christian

Arcade enclosing the bawdi. Source: Flickr| Chili Temple

Outside the Abhaneri Stepwell. Source: Youtube| Manish Dadheech

Carvings at the temple in the vicinity of the stepwell. Source: Flickr| Iameato Feliz

A closer look at the multiple ways the intersection of the edges is resolved as the sides taper to the bottom. Source: Flickr | Rob Brink

The fourth side of the bawdi with pavilions on three levels. Source: Flickr| Tonino

Still from the Batman movie with Chand Bawdi in the background. Source: The Dark Knight Rises

Hindu column detail at the lower levels of the pavilion. Source: Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India | Morna Livingston

Sculptures found at the bawdi. Source: Flickr| Vishnu Nath

Details of the pavilions. Source: Flickr| Maurizio Paganin