How an Indian architectural feature once plentiful is being saved by a man whose obsession with stepwells was ‘love at first sight’
- HR professional Rohan Kale is on a mission to bring India’s stepwells – deep wells constructed in stone accessed by flights of stairs – ‘from misery to glory’
- Once busy places of social significance, many stepwells have fallen into disuse and become garbage pits; Kale’s work has seen some return to their former use
Infatuation comes in all shapes and sizes; Rohan Kale found it in a stepwell.
“It was love at first sight, which slowly became an obsession as I discovered more as I travelled – discovering their architecture, their structures and myriad shapes, and their astonishing history and role in water conservation,” says Kale, 38, who works in human resources in the pharmaceutical industry and discovered his first well in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Stepwells (also called baoris or vavs) are deep wells constructed in stone over catchment areas and underground aquifers, accessed by flights of stairs that in some cases descend as deep as 20 metres (66 feet). They are sturdy structures built to withstand earthquakes. They have existed in India since Harappan times (2500BC – 1700BC) and were mentioned in Ashokan inscriptions (made in the second century BC).
“The concept was to build an architectural structure around a naturally occurring water source, accessed by a flight of stairs and landings so that water could be [drawn] in any season, with fluctuating [water] levels,” says Rahul Chemburkar, an architect who specialises in heritage conservation for the company Vaastu Vidhaan.
Many were built with royal patronage, exquisite architecture adorned with carvings and idols. Others include a maze of galleries and chambers, where people could rest.