Dwarka Baoli (also known as Loharehri Baoli) is a historical

stepwell Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

recently discovered in

Dwarka Sub City Dwarka is a neighbourhood located in South West Delhi district of Delhi. The district court that functions under the Delhi High Court for South West Delhi is located in Dwarka. The sub-city is located near to Indira Gandhi International Airp ...

, in south west

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was constructed for the residents of Loharehri village by the Sultans of the

Lodi Dynasty The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...

in the early 16th century.

Dwarka Dwarka () is a city and a municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat in Western India. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at the mouth of the Gulf of Kut ...

now stands where the Loharehri village once stood. Located in a barren stretch of land between a residential society and a private school on Azad Hind Fauj Marg, Sector 12,

, at 28-35-58.95 degree North and 77-02-38.67 degree East. It was hidden by a large group of

Peepal ''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree, ...

trees and covered by a thick undergrowth which seems to have aided in its relative obscurity. It is mentioned in Maulvi Zafar Hasan's 1910 Monuments list which says it was not very deep and had 22 steps. It is under restoration by the State archeological department and work will be taken up by

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with Unit ...

Delhi Chapter. Baoli or

bawdi Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

, also referred to as baori or bauri, is a

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

word (from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''wapi'' or ''vapi'','' vapika'').Jutta Jain- Newbauer (1981), The step wells of Gujarat in art-historical perspective (see ''the term''). Water Temples of India and temple step wells were built in ancient India and the earliest forms of step well and reservoir were also built in India in places like

Dholavira Dholavira ( gu, ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is ...

as far back as the

Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

Architecture

The structure shows typical Lodi era

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

with prominent arches along the steps and a well at the end of the

baoli Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

. The

is constructed using rubble masonry, common in monuments of that period. Along the steps, two levels of arches are clearly visible. Although the water level has receded leaving the well dry. The baoli seems to have disappeared from the pages of history and bears no mention in the ASI or

heritage list. Although not as architecturally significant as Agrasen ki baoli and

Rajon Ki Baoli The Baolis of Mehrauli are three stepwells approached through single stage or three stage steps, located in Mehrauli in Delhi, India, in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park mainlined by the Archaeological Survey of India. These are the Anangtal Baol ...

, Dwarka Baoli is one-of-its-kind as there is no other structure in the area.

Gallery

File:Front View of Dwarka Baoli 02.jpg, Front view of the Dwarka Baoli File:Front View of Dwarka Baoli 03.jpg, Front view of the Dwarka Baoli File:Front View of Dwarka Baoli 04.jpg, Front view of the Dwarka Baoli

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwarka Baoli Stepwells in Delhi South West Delhi district