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Author: Jutta Jain-Neubauer
Publisher: Abhinav Publications
ISBN: 9780391022843
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
Author: Jutta Jain-Neubauer
Publisher: Abhinav Publications
ISBN: 9780391022843
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
Author: Victoria Lautman
Publisher: Merrell
ISBN: 9781858946894
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Some of the finest architectural structures in India are to be found below ground: these are its ancient stepwells. Stepwells are unique to India; the earliest rudimentary wells date from about the 4th century CE, and eventually they were built throughout the country, particularly in the arid western regions. Stepwell construction evolved so that, by the 11th century, they were amazingly complex feats of architecture and engineering, not only providing water all year round but also serving as gathering places, refuges and retreats. The journalist Victoria Lautman first encountered stepwells three decades ago, and this book - now available in paperback for the first time - is a testament to her determined efforts over several years to document these fascinating but largely unknown structures before they disappear. Of the thousands of stepwells that proliferated across India, most were abandoned as a result of modernization and the depletion of water tables. Frequently commissioned by royal or wealthy patrons, the wells vary greatly in scale and design. Some also functioned as subterranean Hindu temples, featuring columned pavilions and elaborate stone carvings. Islamic wells were generally less flamboyant, but often incorporated shady loggias and small chambers in which to relax and escape the stifling heat. Today, few stepwells are in use. The majority have been left to silt up, fill with rubbish and crumble into disrepair. Gradually, however, the Indian government and heritage organizations are recognizing the need to preserve these architectural wonders. In 2014 India's grandest and best-known stepwell, the Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, became a UNESCO World Heritage site. In her introduction, Lautman discusses why and where the stepwells were built. She reflects on the reasons they became derelict and considers how the appreciation of stepwells is changing with the work of organizations and individuals who aim to protect and restore them. The main part of the book is arranged in a broadly chronological order, with up to four pages devoted to each of c. 70 stepwells, every one unique in design and engineering. The name, location (including GPS coordinates) and approximate date of each well accompany colour photographs and a concise commentary by Lautman on the history and architecture of the well and her experience of visiting it. While many of the stepwells are rather decrepit, their magnificent engineering and great beauty never fail to impress.
Author: Morna Livingston
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 9781568983240
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
From the fifth to the nineteenth centuries, the people of western India built stone cisterns to collect the water of the monsoon rains and keep it accessible for the remaining dry months of the year. These magnificent structures-known as stepwells or stepped ponds-are much more than utilitarian reservoirs. Their lattice-like walls, carved columns, decorated towers, and intricate sculpture make them exceptional architecture., while their very presence tells much about the region's ecology and history. For these past 500 years, stepwells have been an integral part of western Indian communities as sites for drinking, washing, and bathing, as well as for colorful festivals and sacred rituals. Steps to Water traces the fascinating history of stepwells, from their Hindu origins, to their zenith during Muslim rule, and eventual decline under British occupation. It also reflects on their current use, preservation, and place in Indian communities. In stunning color and quadtone photographs and drawings, Steps to Water reveals the depth of the stepwells' beauty and their intricate details, and serves as a lens on these fascinating cultural and architectural monuments.
Author: K. Mankodi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
Illustrations: 75 colour and 136 b/w figures and 26 plans Description: In the arid region of Gujarat and Rajasthan with scarce rain, a highly original architectural form developed, that of the stepwell, that is, a well with a long flight of steps leading down to the water's edge. The steps did not remain as a mere adjunct to the well, but increased in complexity. Structural necessity to hold back the loose earth, coupled with the builder's Jove of the ornate, transformed the flight of steps into an elaborate stairway, with many pillared pavilions demarcating the stages and with many storeys on successive pavilions. The Ranki Vav, or the Queen's Stepwell, at Patan, the old capital of Gujarat, was built by Udayamati in memory of her husband late in the eleventh century. The monument was planned on an ambitious scale, over two hundred feet in length, with a draw well nearly one hundred feet deep, and was furnished with no fewer than eight hundred sculptures. The present work is concerned with the architecture, statuary, style and chronology of the Queen's Stepwell. The method of construction is also considered to enable the reader to understand better this unique architectural form. Twenty - six large drawings, specially commissioned, and 211 colour and black - and - white photographs, illustrate the book.
Author: Purnima Mehta Bhatt
Publisher: Zubaan
ISBN: 938475708X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 159
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Book Description
A fascinating, multi-disciplinary exploration of water, wells and women’s spaces in Gujarat. Centuries ago, in the arid landscape of Gujarat, where water is scarce and rains scanty, stepwells sustained life and enabled crops to flourish. Women played a major role in the construction and patronage of many of these stepwells, which were unique structures that linked three worlds: the subterranean, the earthly and the celestial. Women also frequently served as inspiration for their construction — these were often built to honour a virtuous wife or benevolent mother, a local goddess or a beloved mistress. As a gathering place for women, the stepwells also became a favourite subject in folklore. Every stepwell yields tales of love and betrayal, courage and sacrifice. Through a historical analysis and visual documentation of these distinctly female spaces, Purnima Bhatt sheds light on the relationship between women, water, architecture and religion. Examining the artistic and aesthetic aspects of these structures, the author describes the art of the stepwells as looking beyond the patriarchal gods of classical Hinduism and celebrating the feminine principle. She also explores the idea of these wells acting as indicators of women’s changing social and economic status and challenging the stereotypes of the passivity of women. Her focus on ‘the woman factor’ aims to give voice to countless women who are forgotten and neglected by history, thereby making the invisible, visible. Published by Zubaan.
Author: Vikramjit Singh Rooprai
Publisher: Niyogi Books
ISBN: 9389136113
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 168
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Book Description
Delhi heritage top 10 Series is a comprehensive guide to Delhi heritage icons and architectural gems. The first volume in the series delves into the fascinating history and the great significance of forgotten, subterranean, man-made water structures, commonly known as baolis or stepwells. The book walks us through the top ten baolis, with two special mentions at the end. Besides giving a vivid description of the functioning and revival of the baolis, the book also focuses on the social importance of each structure. The work is an outcome of a three-year-long research from various archives and contains historic as well as modern photographs along with architectural drawings. The Foreward has been written by Prof. Sohail Hashmi.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788186901304
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 84
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Book Description
Author: Jutta Jain-Neubauer
Publisher: Marg Publications
ISBN: 9789383243143
Category : Water and architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
- This book will explore the aesthetic, historical, social, and economic settings of India's waterscapes A lesser known and researched form of Indian architecture is that of its water monuments - a term that covers sacred temple tanks, stepwells, artificially built ponds, lakes and reservoirs, residential pools and rock-cut cisterns, canals and sluices, and ritual platforms on rivers or lakes (ghats). These magnificent, ingeniously conceived structures are an integral part of mainstream Indian architecture and have complex architectural and spatial figuration and extensive sculptural or relief ornamentation. Their deep art-historical significance, the development and diversity of their architecture and hydrological engineering, their canonical authorization, their specific iconographic, aesthetic and ritual characteristics, as well as their location in the socio-religious, economic and agrarian order of the region, make them important cultural constituents of their times. Water Design will explore in an interdisciplinary way the architectural plan and structural framework and its variants determined by local traditions and spatial considerations; their artistic and ornamental characteristics; the topography of waterscapes and how these determine or are determined by the urban setting; as well as their location along the trade routes which might have facilitated the cross-influencing of architectural form across regions and cultures. Jutta Jain-Neubauer studied Indology and Indian Art History at the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, Germany (MA 1976), and University of Bonn, Germany, where she obtained her PhD degree with a thesis on 'Stepwells of Gujarat in art-historical Perspective' in 1978. With a fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation she studied the ancient canonical texts on art and architecture of India (shilpa shastras). She worked for various institutions in India, such as the National Museum Institute for Art History, Museology and Conservation; the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), for whom she has done the first ever full-fledged documentation of Rani ni Vav, the famed Stepwell of the Queen in Patan, recently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. She is currently Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
Author: John Burton-Page
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 198
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Book Description
This volume is dedicated to the monuments and buildings of Ahmadabad, the premier city of Gujarat. With its many mosques and tombs dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, Ahmadabad preserves some of the finest Indian Islamic buildings.
Author: Purnima Mehta Bhatt
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 135137365X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 142
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Book Description
This book explores the understudied and often overlooked subject of African presence in India. It focuses on the so-called Sidis, Siddis or Habshis who occupy a unique place in Indian history. The Sidis comprise scattered communities of people of African descent who travelled and settled along the western coast of India, mainly in Gujarat, but also in Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Sri Lanka and in Sindh (Pakistan) as a result of the Indian Ocean trade from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries. The work draws from extant scholarly research and documentary sources to provide a comprehensive study of people of African descent in India and sheds new light on their experiences. By employing an interdisciplinary approach across fields of history, art, anthropology, religion, literature and oral history, it provides an analysis of their negotiations with cultural resistance, survivals and collective memory. The author examines how the Sidi communities strived to construct a distinct identity in a new homeland in a polyglot Indian society, their present status, as well as their future prospects. The book will interest those working in the fields of history, sociology and social anthropology, cultural studies, international relations, and migration and diaspora studies.
