Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c31.46

c31.46

Water forms such an essential part of the religious and economic life of the Indian people that tanks, conduits, sluices, and wells are common in all parts, but none of these have been more artistically treated than in Gujarat. Even such utilitarian objects as the water gates of the reservoirs became in the hands of these craftsmen pleasing works of art, as shown by one of the sluices of the Khan Sarovar Tank at Anhilapattana, with its elegant vase-and-foliage pillars of the eleventh century. It was however in a special type of public well developed in western India that the *Salat*, or stone mason, expressed himself most favourably, for some of these *wavs* have marked architectural character. The *wav*, or *baoli*, consists of a cylindrical draw-well, one side of which is open down to the water level, as it is approached by flights of steps descending an inclined passage. Each flight of steps leads to a stage or story, so that the passage becomes a series of narrow galleries, one above the other. By this arrangement the public obtained access to the water without having to make use of the draw-well. Such a structural plan provided an excellent opportunity for the introduction of pillars and pilasters, and groups of these accordingly find a place in each bay. Moreover, the entrance to the passage, and its "skylights" above, together with the mouth of the draw-well itself, invited ornamental treatment, and this took the form of pavilions and kiosks of the pillared variety, the whole combination converting the *wav* both above and below ground into that true test of an artistic consciousness, an object of utility realized architecturally. A few instances of *wavs* of the Hindu period survive, which show that this system of well-construction matured at a comparatively early date, that of the Rani Wav at Anihilapattana, built about 1050 A.D., being one of the largest and most sumptuous of its kind. Little of it now remains except indications of its shape and size but among its ruins one pillar still stands, which is a proof not only of the elegance of its design, but is also an excellent example of the Gujarati order of this period. Less elaborate but better preserved *wavs* of the early kind are the Vethiya *wav* near Mukhana in Kathiawar dating from the eleventh century, and another at Vayad in the old Baroda State built in the thirteenth century. That at Vayad is a characteristic design in four stories or galleries, all well proportioned but somewhat parsimoniously treated as regards detail. The Hindu type of *wav* was however but a prelude to the kind of structure that developed in later mediaeval times under Moslem rule, when besides functioning as a well, or *baoli*, it became enlarged and elaborated into a range of underground compartments and columned courts, a cool and refreshing retreat for the wayfarer from the heat and glare of the bazaars overhead.