GROUP 2-STEPWELL.pptx

steps wells of historical monuments

1. STEP WELLS SUBMITTED BY : SURAJ.M SHAKIB MUSKAN.O NIDHI.M PRAGATI.B PRATHAMESH.M

2. STEPWELLS, ALSO CALLED BAWDI OR BAOLI ARE WELLS IN WHICH THE WATER CAN BE REACHED BY DESCENDING A SET OF STEPS. THEY MAY BE COVERED AND PROTECTED, AND ARE OFTEN OF ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE. IT CAN BE MULTI-STORIED ALSO IN WHICH A BULLOCK TURNS THE WATER WHEEL ("REHANT") TO RAISE THE WATER IN THE WELL TO THE FIRST OR SECOND FLOOR. THEY ARE MOST COMMON IN THE WEST OF INDIA. THEY MAY BE ALSO FOUND IN THE OTHER MORE ARID REGIONS OF THE SUBCONTINENT, EXTENDING INTO PAKISTAN. THE CONSTRUCTION MAY BE UTILITARIAN, BUT SOMETIMES INCLUDES SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL EMBELLISHMENTS. A NUMBER OF DISTINCT NAMES, SOMETIMES LOCAL, EXIST FOR STEPWELLS. IN HINDI SPEAKING REGIONS, THEY INCLUDE NAMES BASED ON BAUDI (INCLUDING BAWDI, BAWRI, BAOLI, BAVADI). IN GUJARATI AND MARWARI LANGUAGE, THEY ARE USUALLY CALLED VAV. INTRODUCTION

3. SIGNIFICANT EXAMPLES THE RANI KI VAV, PATAN, GUJARAT. AGRASEN KI BAOLI, NEW DELHI. THE ADALAJNI VAV AT ADALAJ, GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT. CHANDINATH KI VAV OF BHINMAL. IN NEEMRANA (RAJASTHAN), WHEN ARRIVING FROM NEW DELHI. RANIJI KI BAORI IN BUNDI, RAJASTHAN. THE PUSHKARANI MONUMENT AT VIJAYANAGARA, KARNATAKA. SOME IN AMBER, INCLUDING THE 'PANNAMEENA KA KUND' AND 'SARAIBAWDI' THE SHARENSHWARNI VAV AT HALVAD, GUJARAT. SEVERAL EXISTING STRUCTURES IN DELHI, INCLUDING A RECENT PRE-MUGHAL FINDING IN THE RED FORT.

4. ALL FORMS OF THE STEPWELL MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE PARTICULAR EXAMPLES OF THE MANY TYPES OF STORAGE AND IRRIGATION TANKS THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN INDIA, MAINLY TO COPE WITH SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN WATER AVAILABILITY. A BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STEPWELLS ON THE ONE HAND, AND TANKS AND WELLS ON THE OTHER, WAS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO REACH THE GROUND WATER, AND TO MAINTAIN AND MANAGE THE WELL. IN SOME RELATED TYPES OF STRUCTURE ( JOHARA WELLS), RAMPS WERE BUILT TO ALLOW CATTLE TO REACH THE WATER. THE MAJORITY OF SURVIVING STEPWELLS ORIGINALLY ALSO SERVED A LEISURE PURPOSE, AS WELL AS PROVIDING WATER. THIS WAS BECAUSE THE BASE OF THE WELL PROVIDED RELIEF FROM DAYTIME HEAT, AND MORE SUCH RELIEF COULD BE OBTAINED IF THE WELL WAS COVERED. THIS LED TO THE BUILDING OF SOME SIGNIFICANT ORNAMENTAL AND ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES, OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH DWELLINGS AND IN URBAN AREAS. IT ALSO ENSURED THEIR SURVIVAL AS MONUMENTS.

5. STEPWELL PURPOSE THE MAJORITY OF SURVIVING STEPWELLS ORIGINALLY SERVED A LEISURE PURPOSE AS WELL AS PROVIDING WATER. THIS WAS BECAUSE THE BASE OF THE WELL PROVIDED RELIEF FROM THE DAYTIME HEAT, AND THIS WAS INCREASED IF THE WELL WAS COVERED. STEPWELLS ARE EXAMPLES OF THE MANY TYPES OF STORAGE AND IRRIGATION TANKS THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN INDIA, MAINLY TO COPE WITH SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN WATER AVAILABILITY. A BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STEPWELLS ON THE ONE HAND, AND TANKS AND WELLS ON THE OTHER, IS THAT STEPWELLS MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO REACH THE GROUNDWATER AND TO MAINTAIN AND MANAGE THE WELL. IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO GUARANTEE A YEAR-ROUND WATER SUPPLY FOR HUMAN NEEDS, PARTICULARLY IN THE ARID REGIONS OF NORTHWESTERN INDIA WHERE THE WATER TABLE COULD BE INCONVENIENTLY BURIED 10 STORIES UNDERGROUND. STEPWELLS ALSO SERVED AS A PLACE FOR SOCIAL GATHERINGS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. USUALLY, WOMEN WERE MORE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE WELLS BECAUSE THEY WERE THE ONES WHO COLLECTED THE WATER.

6. INPUTS STEPWELLS WHERE NECESSARY IN THE HOT AND DRY CLIMATE AND IN ARID REGIONS. IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO PROVIDE WATER SUPPLY FOR HUMAN NEEDS. STEPWELLS WERE EXCAVATED SEVERAL STORIES UNDERGROUND TO REACH THE  WATER TABLE. FLIGHTS OF STEPS WHERE INCARPORATED WHICH LEADS TO THE GROUND LEVEL. SOME OF THE STEP WELLS ALSO FUNCTIONED AS SHADED PAVILLIONS SUPPORTED BY CLOUMNS AND STONE CARVINGS. STEPWELLS WHERE MOSTLY FOUND NEAR TEMPLES AND TRADE ROUTES . SOMETIMES WATER GATHERING PULLEY SYSTEMS WHERE ALSO EMPLOYED. CONSTRUCTION OF STEPWELL WAS NOT JUST A DEEP HOLE , RATHER IT WAS A WIDE, STONE-LINED, SLOPING EXCAVATION WITH FLIGHT OF STEPS AND ALSO ALLOWED ACCESS TO THE WATER WHICH FLOWED THROUGH AN OPENING IN THE WELL. STEPWELLS ARE CATEGORIZED BY THEIR SCALE, LAYOUT, MATERIALS, AND SHAPE: THEY CAN BE RECTANGULAR, CIRCULAR, OR EVEN L-SHAPED; THEY CAN BE BUILT FROM MASONRY, RUBBLE, OR BRICK; AND THEY CAN HAVE AS MANY AS FOUR SEPARATE ENTRANCES. NO TWO STEPWELLS ARE IDENTICAL, AND EACH—WHETHER IT IS SIMPLE AND UTILITARIAN OR COMPLEX AND ORNAMENTED—HAS A UNIQUE CHARACTER. MUCH DEPENDS ON WHERE, WHEN, AND BY WHOM THEY WERE COMMISSIONED.

7. REQUIRMENTS -CONTEXT The context for the stepwell to be established were subterranean edifice and water source, an architectural form that was long popular throughout  India but particularly in arid regions of the India. Stepwells were excavated several stories underground in order to reach the  water table , the level at which the soil or rock is always saturated with water. Stylistically varied, they incorporated flights of stairs leading from the ground level down to the water also functioned as Hindu temples that featured column-supported shade pavilions and elaborate stone carvings Islamic versions had more-sedate adornment and often incorporated arched side-niches

8. stepwells which incorporated a cylinder well that extended down to the water table provided water for drinking, washing, bathing, and the irrigation of crops They also served as cool sanctuaries for caravans, pilgrims, and other travelers during the heat of day or overnight It was essential to guarantee a year-round  water supply for human needs each successive level was punctuated by covered pavilions, which were accessed by ledges as the water level rose and which provided vital shade while buttressing the walls against intense pressure. Many stepwells gradually narrowed from the surface to the lowest tier underground, where the temperature was refreshingly cool.  Stepwells also proliferated along crucial remote trade routes, where travelers and pilgrims could park their animals and take shelter in covered arcades. They were the ultimate public monuments, available to both genders and every religion REQUIRMENTS - goals

9. Commissioned by royal, wealthy, or powerful patrons, they were complex engineering feats and stunning examples of both  Hindu and Islamic architecture . Local  communities  neglected their upkeep, thus allowing them to silt up, fill with garbage, or generally crumble into ruin. During the period of British rule (1858–1947), many stepwells were destroyed after they had been deemed unhygienic breeding grounds for disease. Present-day India’s  water crisis , however, has renewed interest in stepwells, and the government has begun to preserve some of them. Scholars have estimated that by the 19th century several thousand stepwells in varying degrees of grandeur had been built throughout India—in cities, villages, and eventually in private gardens, where they were known as “retreat wells.” By the early 21st century, only a handful of stepwells had remained in relatively decent condition  the stepwells that had been deemed unhygienic havens for parasites and disease by the British rulers of I ndia  consequently were barricaded, filled in, or otherwise destroyed REQUIRMENTS – scope

10. OUTCOME STEPWELLS WHERE COMMISSIONED BY ROYAL, WEALTHY, AND POWERFUL PEOPLE. THEY WHERE PUBLIC MONUMENTS AVAILABLE TO BOTH GENDERS . ONE FOURTH OF STEP WELLS WHERE COMMISSIONED BY WEALTHY AND POWERFUL FEMALES . IT WAS CONSIDERD THAT FETCHING WATER WAS A TASK ASSIGNED FOR WOMEN, THEY GATHERED DOWN IN THE VILLAGE STEPWELL AND WAS AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL ACTIVITES. RATHER THAN FETCHING WATER FROM THE WELLS , STEPWELLS ALSO SERVED AS A HOLY PLACE TO WORSHIP AND SOMETIMES ACTED AS THE SUMMER RETREATS , WHERE THE ENCLOSED PAVILIONS LIKE STRUCTURE HAD A RELATABLE LOW TEMPRAURE PROVIDING SHADE IN THE SUMMERS. MOST OF THE STEPWELLS WHERE ABANDONED DUE TO FALLING WATER TABLES AND MODERNIZATION. LOCAL COMMUNITIES NEGLECTED TO PRESERVE AND WHERE ALLOWED TO SILT UP, AND FILL WITH THE GARBAGE . DURING THE BRITISH RULE MANY STEPWELLS WHERE DESTROYED , SINCE EHERE MAJOR SOURCE OF STAGNANT WATER CAUSING BREEDING GROUND OF DISEASES. THE WATER WAS DIRECTLY FETCHED BY WOMENS , IN FEW OF THE WELLS PULLY SYSTEMS ARE ALSO SEEN.