chand baori – Rana Safvi https://ranasafvi.com A blog exploring India's Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb or its rich multi plural multi cultural heritage via its adab, tehzeeb & tareekh Sun, 25 Sep 2016 03:55:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://ranasafvi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/image-7-75x75.jpg chand baori – Rana Safvi https://ranasafvi.com 32 32 179612229 Chand Baori, Abhaneri : A moonlit baoli in a City of Brightness  https://ranasafvi.com/chand-baori-in-abhaneri-or-city-of-brightness/ https://ranasafvi.com/chand-baori-in-abhaneri-or-city-of-brightness/#comments Sat, 24 Sep 2016 09:30:07 +0000 http://ranasafvi.com/chand-baori-in-abhaneri-or-city-of-brightness/ img_3902

Just 200 km from Delhi is one of the world’s oldest stepwells.

The Chand Baori is one of the most spectacular baolis I have seen.


An amazing perfection of 3500 steps built on 13 levels.

It extends approximately 30 m (100 ft) into the ground

Featured in many movies: Indian and Hollywood

The Dark Knight Rises

 

Said to be the pyramids upside down they were built in 9-10 c by Raja Chanda of Chauhan dynasty.

It’s name derived from his.

On the main wall there were palaces built for the royalty. However subsequent repairs have been done without keeping in mind the prevalent architectural style.

So we have arches alongside  trabeate doors 

Abhaneri a corruption of Abha Nagri or city of brightness.

The renovation must have resulted in displacing of many sculptures which are kept in the side gallery

the galleries are full of idols and sculptures

 

It was used for rain water harvesting in a dry state as well as for socialising. The temperature at the bottom is 5-6 degrees cooler. But railings prevent anyone going down now

Stunning
wish i could have visited these royal apartments!
During restoration the baoli got a makeover with medievial arches and columns
imagine sitting here and watching a dance performance or singing recital!
these columbs must have been the original supports of the side galleries
locals on a visit

 

Stepwells were deep wells with a broad mouth for easy collection of water and steps led down to them.

Baori/ baoli/Bain and bawdi are different names for them.

They used to be very popular in India and are an ancient water harvesting system.

In 1864, the famous French world traveler Louis Rousselet described a stepwells as “[a] vast sheet of water, covered with lotuses in flower, amid which thousands of aquatic birds are sporting.”

It was used for bathing, washing and just having fun.

Next to it is a Harshat Mata Temple which is up in the next blog.

Do Visit . It’s amazing .

I’m glad I got the chance on a visit to Alwar to go there.

Easy driving distance from Delhi, Alwar or Jaipur.

For Harshat Mata you can read

http://ranasafvi.com/the-harshat-mata-temple-in-abhaneri/

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