The Chand Baori is one of the largest and deepest step wells in all of India. Its name derives from King Chand, builder of the work, and baori (“well” in the ancient West Indian language). In fact, they exist in this country enormous hydraulic works consisting of a perimeter made entirely of steps and this, specifically, is located in the village of Abhaneriin the state of Rajasthan. The Chand Baori, which is located not far from the Harshat Mata temple and has around 3500 steps, was dug in such a way as to intercept the aquifer and, due to atmospheric precipitation, guaranteed a rainwater storage tank. In many cases, together with the hydraulic component, the well was combined with the presence of religious temples for various deities. Let’s go into more detail regarding its engineering.
The structure of Chand Baori
As mentioned, the Chand Baori And a step well: Baori in fact, it is the noun with which, in western India, wells are called, while Chand refers to the name of the King who wanted its creation. It develops over a total height of approximately 30 m and, as discussed above, this is one of the cases where a religious significance was also given to the place. In fact, adjacent to this particular well there is a temple dedicated to the Goddess of happiness and joy (Harshat Mata). The work develops on 13 levelsthrough the construction of approx 3500 steps and has a practically square plan, therefore symmetrical. The stepped structure, which tends to converge towards the central point of the square plan, seems to underline the formation of an inverted pyramid.
What are step wells
But what does it mean “stepped”? Generally, we are used to thinking of a well as a structure cylindrical shape immersed in the ground, with perhaps a device in the center that allows water to be drawn from the aquifers. Historically, this device was basically made up of a rope and a buckettoday instead we can find pipes connected to pumps which guarantee controlled extraction (i.e. withdrawal) of water from the aquifer.
In this case, however, we are dealing with a slightly different structure: similarly to what is normally done, the well comes dug until reaching the groundwater level. That is water contained naturally in the pores of the soil and represents the materialization of the aquifer. Unlike a classic well, however, in this case we have a much larger excavation volume! In fact, in addition to this water which is naturally present, a stepped well it acts as a reservoir in the event of rainy events. In fact, rather than accumulating water in the ground or removing it in a manner not engineereddue to the orography of the territory, the tank allows the water directly perceived inside it to be accumulated, through a simple increase in the water head, i.e. the level of water inside it.
There presence of stepsarranged laterally along the perimeter of the well, as well as representing a spectacular architectural ornament, allow for easy descent into the well itself, thus allowing water to be drawn from inside with ease and complete accessibility, regardless of the level of water present.
Each stepwell is made up of four main elements:
- The so-called Todaor a pair of ornamental columns at the entrance, which served to signal the presence of the well;
- Kutaor what we might call today rest landingsi.e. the spaces between the steps used for stopping during the descent or ascent from the well;
- Ardhakutaa support structure without the presence of landings;
- The central wellwhich gives access to deep groundwater.
Access to groundwater guaranteed the presence of minerals and other useful substances naturally present in the soil. Groundwater guaranteed the use of this primary good even in periods of drought. Furthermore, the depth of these waters made them particularly “fresh” in the summer periodswhere external temperatures reach significantly high values!
In reality, in addition to all these hydraulic needs, these places became real daily meeting points, as well as places of worship, as already mentioned previously.
The use of stepwells today
Following the British domination of the Indian territories, the use of these stepwells declined significantly. This choice is due to the increasingly widespread consideration of using a unhealthy environment for water managementespecially for drinking purposes. These wells were therefore labeled as unhygienic places and possible point of spread of diseases. Many wells are currently unusable due to a problem linked to a finding lowering of water tables.
Today, therefore, they represent important archaeological sites and very established tourist destinations but no longer have a hydraulic function, which instead remains a historical reminder of their presence in India. Curiosity: the Chand Baori was also used as a set for some scenes in the trilogy of Batman by Christopher Nolan.
