Once again, we needed to check out by 8 and head for breakfast. We were ready early and decided to explore the neighbourhood. Sandhya was down and briskly walking up and down. Hotel Raveta seems to be away from town, off the NH10 - and the area is called Tirupati township!
Nothing much to write about the environs - an open sewer ran the length of the road - or was it a stormwater drain? There were these bird stands - the one with the peacock on it - where pigeons cooed and fed, as also the Jungle Babblers. One Grey Wagtail hurried and bobbed along the banks, very busy with his/her morning feeding.
The white-breasted waterhens rooted around in the canal. We strolled in the streets behind the hotel - dusty and dry, and once again many pigeon feeding stands, and we saw Sparrows go in and out of one of these.
There were Laughing Doves calling, from the wires, cows wandering and of course the street dogs looking at us with hope for a biscuit or morsel.
We got back to the hotel, to see the Buddha fountain also filled with pigeons! Ebird list here.
Breakfast was in the ground floor cafe - and there were very nice dhoklas and also khandvi - I quite enjoyed those, though I think my Selvi's poha is better.😆
Our bus arrived - the driver was amazing - never late, kept the bus shiny and clean, and drove steadily.
We settled into our seats - already habits were forming - Sekar and me sat on the right hand side - all through the trip I think! We had to pick up the splinter group who were at the other hotel just down the road.
Suddenly we were in the greener and cleaner part of down town Patan it seemed. I remembered from my Sarkhej ki Roza Ahmedabad story about Patan being the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate before his time. There were some old fort walls, a couple of large fancy schools, lots of tree lined roads, and then we were there.
Our first glimpse of the ASI complex - standard with lawns and trees. As with all ASI monuments we were greeted by large lawns and neem trees. I wonder why they do this though - it’s so not part of our old gardens and it’s so water intensive.
We strolled across the lawns, there was a flash of brilliant blue - an Indian Roller darted across the lawn and settled on this Neem tree. Do you see it? Photo by Devaroon
And then just like that - we were at the well! I just stood there stunned. Stunned at the sheer size of it, the stark beauty and the wonder, and even more stunned as to how something like this could have been buried and forgotten.
While one version says that the step well caved in during a flood, it could be that it just silted over. The well part has always been visible - only no one seemed to remember of the step well.
Bhimadeva I - of the Modhera sun temple - had a wife, Udaymati, who is the Rani who is believed to have built this Vav or well. The whole step well is 64m long, 20m wide and 27m deep with tier upon tier of carvings. Were these pillars - seen in the foreground in this picture the base of an entry arch?
We climbed down the steps, and I for one did not know where to look - row upon rows of beautiful sculptures, intricate designs, amazing "engineering" must have gone in to get this sandstone step well in place. Who were the builders, the architects? who were the sculptors?
Clearing The Debris
It was in 1958 that ASI undertook the clearance and restoration work for the Vav, which was filled with silt and water. As the process of desilting and debris clearance started, the water also started receding. The silt had to be cleared bit by bit by hand and carefully checked before disposal for antiquities that could be mixed with the mud.
“It was the most risky project of my career,” says Bhopal-based retired ASI archaeologist Narayan Vyas, who did the documentation work at the site for seven years between 1981 and 1988 and also holds a PhD degree on the stepwell. “For days, I would sit on the narrow ledges that run along the walls on a chair working. If I looked down I felt dizzy, it was so deep,” he remembers.
Work was slow – the process took more than three decades to complete. Bisht recalls that when he had taken charge of the Indore circle (which includes Patan) in 1989, only three levels had been exposed. The rest was completed under him. The top two levels of the stepwell had been destroyed – ASI rebuilt them, but without any of the sculptural adornments that must have been there originally. After the desilting, the sculptures had to be cleaned with distilled water. “Chemical cleaning and treatment was done to protect the structure and sculptures,” says Vilas Jadhav, another retired ASI archaeologist who had also worked at the Vav.
Kalki - the one we await. Riding Devadutta the horse, and with maidens pouring water? Who is under foot, I don't know.
Mahishasuramardhii was one of my favourites - so beautifully sculpted, though she did not have a "fierce" look.
Do you see the 3 owls? Meera had set Sheila and me the task of finding them, we failed miserably, so distracted were we, and she had to point them out, eventually!
The most wondrous feat of engineering cum ingenuity for me was the reclining Vishnu - seen at the far end, through the various layers of pillars - carved so when the well was full of water he would appear reclining in the ocean! How cool is that I thought.
There was Balarama, Buddha, Rama, Parvathi and so many more - dancing women everywhere.
Varaha
Some one remarked very wryly, isn't this all a bit much, what is one supposed to see? Then we discussed and imagined howPatan residents would have visited the well ever so often, and then each day they could sit in a different spot, admire a different sculpture, or maybe have a favourite spot, have rendezvous with secret lovers under specific figures, the possibilities were endless!
You had to admire the scale of it...
and the intricate details of each panel.
A vertical panoramic shot from where we stood to the top.
Here's a video of the well, and also zooming in on the Vishnu at the rear.
A couple of hours later, we reluctantly moved out of the step well, came around to the actual well at the rear. There are guards ensuring that people do not try any stunts like trying to look into the well. I think Saisudha put her phone over the edge and took a picture, and there was water at the bottom!
From the well, looking back at the step well , where we had just come from.
Even these walls were sculpted!
A pair of rose ringed parakeets seem to have made a nest in the wall - and were busy feeding their young ones - I think.
I could have quite happily lingered longer. We then went to the Patola museum and I learnt about the Patola style of double ikat weaving. No photos allowed but it was a pretty cool place. The family said they were involved in the this for 28 generations and claimed to trace their lineage back to the Solankis.
And then we drove and drove (some 5 hours) and drove all the way to the island of Khadir where Dholavira is located. Along the way I saw 2 flamingos, a roller and one wild ass as well besides the longest every cattle procession ever!
We entered the Rann salt areas halfway through - and then travelled on the old Road to heaven - to reach Khadir Bet island.
Lunch was so so. And we reached the rather nice Evoke hotel in the evening. Checked in and then went off to see the sunset at the rann - what a lovely experience it was. Sekar's photos below
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