Stepwell (vav)
Pozo escalonado (vav)
- Date
- c. 600 · confidence low
- Place
- Uparkot, Junagadh, Gujarat, India
- Credited to
- Builders of Gujarat and Rajasthan
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Monumental well reached by flights of steps and galleries down to the water table, which varies greatly between the monsoon and the dry season. It served as a reservoir, a cool meeting place and a temple; Rani ki Vav (Patan, 1063) is its most elaborate example.
The chronology of the earliest rock-cut stepwells at Junagadh is uncertain (2nd-7th centuries); thousands were built up to the 19th century.
What it led to
- water supply in the semi-arid regions of western India
- religious and civic water architecture (baoli, vav)