Water is the elixir of life. Great civilisations have sustained along the banks of water bodies across the world. However, this is a finite resource and with the passage of time, it is depleting, and therefore extremely necessary to save and conserve. Numerous technological advances have been made and are being developed rapidly to save water. But India’s traditional water conservation methods can put these to shame. For, these are not only ecologically better ideas but were also architectural and historical wonders.
In the west of India, states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, comprise very dry and arid regions. Water is a scarce resource here, making it crucial to conserve. The people in these regions have come up with various indigenous techniques to store water during the monsoons and use them throughout the year, or sometimes dig up wells till the groundwater level to sustain their lives.
One popular structure they used was the baoli. They are also called vav, baori, vavri, vavdi, bavadi, bawdi, etc. They are an important part of our cultural tangible heritage and have been used for ages to conserve water. Throughout India’s past, there have been heritage structures built to conserve nature and natural practices. These ancient baolis are an ideal solution to modern-day water problems.
A look into India’s architectural and ecological history indicates how water was preserved and how this system has existed since the 10th century in India. Baolis for the first time appeared in the 2nd and 4th century AD in Junagadh, Gujarat. From there they spread to Rajasthan and then to the rest of northern and western India and Pakistan. But, the great bath of Mohenjodaro can also be considered a form of Baoli, which was made in the 3rd century BC. So technically we can say they go way back to the ancient period.
Baolis or step-wells had steps to reach the bottom where the well or water source is situated. They also have rooms and resting places where travellers can rest. They were built as multi-functioning structures where villagers could collect water and commuters could have a place to rest. The water would collect in the well during the rainy season and it would serve as a reservoir for drinking and irrigation purposes throughout the year. Some baolis were dug up to reach the groundwater level. The main well along with the secondary structures in baolis are mostly constructed from stone masonry. Not just as an ecological and conservation purposes of saving water, but these baolis were seen as an aesthetic space to showcase the art and architecture of the period they were built in. They had intricate designs and motifs on the walls and were symbolic of the culture that prevailed in the region and during a particular period. Architecturally, they are a marvel and are one of the finest examples are seen in both Hindu and Islamic architecture. They were used as temples and ritual sites where they had pictures of male and female deities engraved on the walls of the baoli.
Today, even when the water in these baolis has dried up, they are still re-adapted and used as temples, most significantly the Mata Bhavani Vav in Ahmedabad built in the 1st century and by the Chalukya dynasty in Gujarat. That is another importance of Baolis. Apart from conserving water, they were also an important religious and social structure. Ladies would often perform rituals in these Baolis. The location from the movie Padmavat where Rani Padmini performs Jauhar along with 16,000 other Rajput women is also a kind of Baoli which was a structure inside the Chittorgarh fort. One Baoli which has often been used as a shoot location for a lot of movies is the Chand Baori. Chand Baori is a multi-approach stepwell in Rajasthan and is situated in the village of Abhaneri. Movies like Bhool Bhoolaiya, Paheli, the fall, etc. were shot here. The stepwell has also served as an inspiration for the location of one of the batman movies-the Dark Knight rises. The Baori was made between the 8th and the 9th century by King Chanda to solve water issues in the region. It is 13 stories deep and has 3500 steps in total. However, Rani ki vav or the queen’s stepwell in Gujarat is the most popular Baolis in India, which was made during the rule of the Chalukyas dynasty. It has had the status of UNESCO world heritage status since 2014.
Baolis have served from being an absolute necessity (to conserve water) to being an important and significant artistic disposition (being heavily adorned with structures and deities that showcase the art and culture of the era) from historic to modern times. They are important ecological structures that have ancient roots and serve the purpose of conserving water structurally. They are important cultural assets and therefore should be preserved at all costs. By the early 20th century, there were very few Baolis that were serviceable to the public, as the British thought of them as unhygienic and so many of these Baolis were destroyed or filled, thus rendering them redundant.
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Hi, I’m Radhey Sureka…
Radhey is a student at St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta. Though from the field of commerce, she loves all things history, culture and heritage. Currently, she is working with the Oral History Database team of India Lost & Found.
