Rani Ki Vav, Gujarat

The Queen’s Stepwell, also known as Rani ki Vav, is one of the country’s largest stepwells. It is situated on one of the popular rivers, named as River Saraswati River’s banks in Gujarat. This 900-year-old structure may be found in Patan, a fortified city in the Middle Ages about 125 kilometres from Ahmedabad. Although stepwells have been used in India since the third century BC to hold water, Rani ki Vav is much more. It is well-known for its beautiful seven-story tower and intricately carved sculptures of gods, goddesses, and deities.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

A World Heritage Site is a landmark or region that has been designated as such by an international treaty administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO designates the World Heritage Sites for their cultural, their historical stories, scientific, or other value too. The locations were chosen for its  “cultural and ecological legacy to the world that is of exceptional value to humanity.”

Patan, Gujarat, India’s Queen’s Stepwell (Rani Ki Vav) is a stepwell. It is situated on one of the popular rivers, named as River Saraswati River’s banks. Udayamati, the daughter of Khengara of Saurashtra, queen and husband of Chalukya monarch Bhima I, erected it in the 11th century. The Archaeological Survey of India rediscovered it in the 1940s after many years of silence and renovated it in the 1980s. Since 2014, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rani ki Vav

Queen Udayamati, King Bhimadevi’s wife, is said to have constructed Rani-ki-Vav in Patan. This site is a fantastic example of Solanki’s ornate structural design. It has a length of 64 metres and a width of 20 metres. When it was first built, Rani ki Vav had seven stories. So far, only five of them have been spared. The depth of this arresting stepwell is 27 metres, and it is inclined east-west. The underground tank is reached by a long tunnel with many steps.

The greatest and one of the largest instances of its sort, the stepwell is divided into seven flights of stairs with sculptural panels; more than 500 primary sculptures and over a thousand lesser ones combine religious, mythological, and secular imagery, often referencing literary works. The stepwell ornamentation depicts the entire universe as occupied by gods and goddesses, celestial creatures, men and women, monks, priests, and laity, real and legendary animals, fishes, and birds, and plants and trees.

The stepwell is intended to function as an underground shrine or inverted temple. It has spiritual meaning and symbolizes the sanctity of water. The Hindu deities depicted in the stepwell include Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, goddesses (Devi), Ganesha, Kubera, Lakulisha, Bhairava, Surya, Indra, and Hayagriva. Sheshashayi Vishnu (Vishnu reclining on a thousand hooded serpent Shesha in the cosmic ocean), Vishwarupa Vishnu (Vishnu’s cosmic form), twenty four forms, and Dashavatara are examples of Vishnu sculptures (ten incarnations).

Authenticity of Rani-ki-Vav

Rani-ki-Vav is genuine in terms of material, content, design, craftsmanship, and, to a lesser extent, atmosphere, location, and setting. While the original material and composition remained, structural stability necessitated certain quick renovations. Reconstructed elements were only used when it was physically required to safeguard the existing sculpture, and they are distinguished from ancient elements by flat surfaces and a lack of decoration. To prevent soil erosion after heavy rains, smooth-descending slopes were built around the outer terrace at ground level, known as a sacrifice terrace. Unfortunately, because of shifting ground water levels caused by the Saraswati River’s movement, the Rani-ki-Vav cannot maintain its authenticity in use and function.

Despite the loss of pavilion levels, Rani-ki-Vav has kept all of its key architectural components, and its original form and design can still be easily recognisable. The majority of the statues and decorative panels are still in place, with several in exceptional condition. Rani-ki-Vav is a rather complete example of the stepwell tradition, despite the fact that it no longer operates as a water well due to geo-tectonic changes in the Saraswati River bed in the 13th century. However, the silting of the water caused by this historic occurrence allowed for the remarkable preservation of Rani-ki-Vav for nearly seven centuries.

Conclusion

On the banks of the Saraswati River in Patan, Rani-ki-Vav is an extraordinary example of the stepwell, a unique style of subterranean water architecture unique to the Indian subcontinent. The stepwell, which was created as a memorial in the 11th century CE, was designed as an inverted temple to emphasise the holiness of water and was built as a religious as well as a functional structure. It is aligned east-west and has all of the fundamental characteristics of a stepwell, such as a stepped corridor that begins at ground level, a series of four pavilions with an increasing number of levels toward the west, a tank, and a tunnel shaft-shaped well. Rani ki Vav has been designated a National Monument and is protected by the ASI. On 22 of june, 2014, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. At the 2016 Indian Sanitation Conference, it was crowned India’s “Cleanest Iconic Place.”