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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. Some stepwells are multi-storeyed and can be accessed by a Persian wheel which is pulled by a bull to bring water to the first or second floor. They are most common in western India and are also found in the other more arid regions of the Indian subcontinent, extending into Pakistan. The construction of stepwells is mainly utilitarian, though they may include embellishments of architectural significance, and be temple tanks. 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 groundwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mata Bhavani's Stepwell
Mata Bhavani's Stepwell or Mata Bhavani ni Vav is a stepwell in Asarwa area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. History and architecture Mata Bhavani's stepwell was built in the 11th century during Chaulukya dynasty rule in Gujarat. It is one of the earliest existing examples of stepwells in India. A long flight of steps leads to the water below a sequence of multi-story open pavilions positioned along the east–west axis. The elaborate ornamentation of the columns, brackets and beams are a prime example of how stepwells were used as a form of art. A much later constructed small shrine of Hindu Goddess Bhavani is located in the lower gallery from which the stepwell derived its name. It was built before the establishment of the modern city of Ahmedabad. The stepwell is 46 metres long and 5.1 metres wide at its entrance. It has three stories and three pavilions. The diameter of the well is 4.8 metres. See also * Dada Harir Stepwell * Amritavarshini Vav * Adalaj Stepwell * Jethabhai's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adi Kadi Vav
Adi Kadi Vav or Adi Chadi Vav is a stepwell in Uparkot Fort, Junagadh, Gujarat, India. The date of its construction is uncertain. History According to Junagadh district administration website, the stepwell was constructed in 15th century. Other sources says that it was constructed in second half of the 10th century or in 11th century during the rule of Chudasama dynasty. Another source says that it was constructed in 319 BCE and rediscovered in 976 CE. According to local historian Parimal Rupani, there were two separate stepwells. It is the Adi stepwell and the Kadi stepwell is still buried, according to him. It is a state protected monument (S-GJ-114). Architecture Adi Kadi Vav is a Nanda type of stepwell. It is not built but carved out of solid natural rock. There is a flight of 166 steps in a narrow corridor to reach well shaft. A small window is carved in the thin rock layer above the well. The rock strata is visible in the eroded walls. The well is 123 feet deep. There i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irrigation Tank
In Sri Lanka and India an irrigation tank or tank is an artificial reservoir of any size. They are part of a historic tradition of harvesting and preserving rainwater in the region. Often an embankment such as a mud bank was constructed across a slope to collect and store water by taking advantage of local mounds and depressions. The water would be used primarily for agriculture and drinking water, but also for bathing and rituals. Tank use is especially critical in regions without perennial water resources. The word tank is the English language substitute for the vernacular terms used in South Asia. A tank cascade is a system of irrigation tanks in single or multiple chains where water from a higher tank flows into lower tanks. Example of tank cascades include Sri Lanka's tank cascade system, the Indian city of Bangalore's cascading lakes in the Varthur lake series, and the Indian city of Madurai's Vandiyur tank cascade system. Modern tank management Today, there are approximat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple Tank
Temple tanks are wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda, sarovara, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and regions of India. Some tanks are said to cure various diseases and maladies when bathed in. It is possible that these are cultural remnants of structures such as the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro or Dholavira, which was part of the Indus Valley civilization. Some are stepwells with many steps at the sides. Tank design Since ancient times, the design of water storage has been important in India's temple architecture, especially in western India where dry and monsoon seasons alternate. Temple tank design became an art form in itself. An example of the art of tank design is the large, geometrically spectacular Stepped Tank at the Royal Center at the ruins of Vijayanagara, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, surrounding the modern town of Hampi. It is lined with g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Well
A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn up by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets or large water bags that are raised mechanically or by hand. Water can also be injected back into the aquifer through the well. Wells were first constructed at least eight thousand years ago and historically vary in construction from a simple scoop in the sediment of a dry watercourse to the qanats of Iran, and the stepwells and sakiehs of India. Placing a lining in the well shaft helps create stability, and linings of wood or wickerwork date back at least as far as the Iron Age. Wells have traditionally been sunk by hand digging, as is still the case in rural areas of the developing world. These wells are inexpensive and low-tech as they use mostly manual labo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kos (unit)
The kos (Hindi: कोस), also spelled ''coss'', ''koss'', ''kosh'', ''krosh'', and ''krosha'', is a unit of measurement which is derived from a Sanskrit term, क्रोश ''krośa'', which means to "call", as the unit was supposed to represent the distance at which another human could be heard. It is an ancient Indian subcontinental standard unit of distance, in use since at least 4 BC. According to the ''Artha-śāstra'', a ''krośa'' or ''kos'' is about 3000 meters or 1.8 miles. Another conversion is based on the Mughal emperor Akbar, who standardized the unit to 5000 ''guz'' in the Ain-i-Akbari. The British in India standardized Akbar's ''guz'' to 33 inches, making the ''kos'' approximately 4191 meters. Another conversion suggested a ''kos'' to be approximately 2 English miles. Arthashastra Standard units The ''"Arthashastra'': Chapter XX. "Measurement of space and time", authored in 4th century BC by Chanakya (Vishnugupta Kauṭilya), sets this standard breakup of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junagadh Buddhist Cave Groups
Junagadh Buddhist Cave Groups are located in Junagadh district of the Indian state of Gujarat. These caves group includes Uparkot Caves, Khapra Kodiya Caves and Baba Pyare Caves. The so-called "Buddhist Caves" are not actually caves, but three separate sites of rooms carved out of stone to be used as monks' quarters. These caves were carved starting from Emperor Ashoka's period up to 1st–4th century AD. Khapra Kodiya Caves The oldest, the Khapara Kodia Caves, on the basis of scribbles and short cursive letters on the wall, are dated to 3rd-4th century BC during the Emperor Ashoka’s rule and are plainest of all cave groups. These caves are also known as Khangar Mahal. They were carved into living rock during the reign of Emperor Ashoka and are considered the earliest monastic settlement in the area. These caves are along the edge of the ancient Sudarshan Lake and little outside Uparkot fort, Northerly. They are carved out in an east–west longitudinal ridge. Caves are small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junagadh
Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. Literally translated, Junagadh means "Old Fort". After a brief struggle between India and Pakistan, Junagadh voted to join India in a plebiscite held on 20 February 1948. It was a part of Saurashtra state and later Bombay state. In 1960, in consequence of the Maha Gujarat movement, it became part of the newly formed Gujarat state. History Early history As per the legend, the founder of the Ror Dynasty Raja Dhaj, Ror Kumar, alias Rai Dyach, ruled over the principality of Jhunagarh in the fifth century BC. An early structure, Uparkot Fort, is located on a plateau in the middle of town. It was originally built in 319 BCE during the Mauryan dynasty by Chandragupta. The fort remained in use until the 6th century, when it was abandoned for abo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Satrap
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India ( Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states), between 35 to 415 CE. The Western Satraps were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and were possibly vassals of the Kushans. They were also contemporaneous with the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India. They are called "Western Satraps" in modern historiography in order to differentiate them from the "Northern Satraps", who ruled in Punjab and Mathura until the 2nd century CE. The power of the Western Satraps started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Saka rulers were defeated by the Emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty. After this, the Saka kingdom revived, but was ultimately destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire in the 4th cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maitraka
The Maitraka dynasty ruled western India (now Gujarat) from approximately 475 to approximately 776 CE from their capital at Vallabhi. With the sole exception of Dharapaṭṭa (the fifth king in the dynasty), who followed the Mithraic mysteries, they were followers of Shaivism. Their origin is uncertain but they were probably Chandravanshi Kshatriyas. Following the decline of the Gupta Empire, Maitraka dynasty was founded by ''Senapati'' (general) Bhaṭārka, who was a military governor of Saurashtra under Gupta Empire, who had established himself as the independent around 475 CE. The first two Maitraka rulers Bhaṭārka and Dharasena I used only the title of ''Senapati'' (general). The third ruler Droṇasiṁha declared himself as the ''Maharaja''. During the reign Dhruvasena I, Jain council at Vallabhi was probably held. The next ruler Dharapaṭṭa is the only ruler considered as a sun-worshipper. King Guhasena stopped using the term ''Paramabhattaraka Padanudhyata'' al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 from Radhanpur. Also known locally as ''Kotada timba'', the site contains ruins of a city of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Earthquakes have repeatedly affected Dholavira, including a particularly severe one around 2600 BC. Dholavira's location is on the Tropic of Cancer. It is one of the five largest Harappan sites and the most prominent of archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also considered as having been the grandest of cities of its time. It is located on ''Khadir bet'' island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch. The quadrangular city lay between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south. The site was thought to be occupi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
