It’s hard to imagine an entire category of architecture slipping off history’s grid, and yet that seems to be the cas...
I recently stumbled upon a photo of what looked like a reverse temple and had to investigate. It was a stepwell. A stepwell is exactly what it sounds like: steps down to a well. The…
If you have never visited Bundi, you have missed something spectacular. Flanked by flourishing orchards and lush paddy fields, there’s an allure to this city that’s hard to find elsewhere.
from Natural History (May 2003) by Morna Livingston In southwestern Gujarat (India), in the late 6th and eartly 7th centuries AD, anonymous masons dug deep trenches into the earth to reach dependable, year-round groundwater. Building upward, they lined the walls of the trenches with huge stone blocks, laid without mortar, and paved the slope of…
It’s amazing what people here have to go through to get water. Back home, with one flick of the wrist, we turn on the faucet to water our lawn. For many Indians living in the arid desert regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, this is unimaginable. Many have to walk for miles to simple wells to […]
Victoria Lautman traces the historical accession and decline of India's stepwells, thought to have developed between 300-500 CE to establish a reliable water supply.
Diary and photos of a return visit to Rajasthan in search of the subterranean architecture of stepwells, from Delhi to Jaipur, Neemrana, Abhaneri, and beyond.
Agrasen kiBaoli is an unexplored stepwell in Delhi. The stepwell has 103 steps and is built in three levels. It is located on Hailey road, quite close to Connaught Place. Photo Courtesy: Supreet Sethi
These historic monuments are testaments to ancient engineers and architects
It is estimated that over 3,000 stepwells were built in the two northern states. Although many have fallen into disrepair, were silted in at some point in antiquity, or were filled in with trash in the modern era, hundreds of wells still exist. In New Delhi alone, there are more than 30.
Victoria Lautman is enamoured by India's stepwells, subterranean masterpieces that served first as a vital means to access and store water between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD.
Image 4 of 37 from gallery of India's Forgotten Stepwells. Photograph by Victoria S Lautman
Thirty years ago, on my first visit to India, I glanced over an ordinary wall. The ground fell away and was replaced by an elaborate, man-made chasm.
Image 25 of 37 from gallery of India's Forgotten Stepwells. Photograph by Victoria S Lautman
Discover the marvels of India’s stepwells—sustainable architectural wonders blending engineering, culture, and art. Explore their relevance today on F
For the past four years, journalist Victoria Lautman has been photographing an overlooked feature of Indian architectural history: the stepwell.
The ancient wells provided more than just a civic service.
300 year old stepwell in Prakasam district of #andhrapradesh, India 🇮🇳 #uniglamindia
An ancient stepwell in India
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