Saturday, October 19, 2013

Delhi - Part 4 - Ugrasen ki Baoli (Stepwell)

Less than a kilometer from our hotel is the Ugrasen Stepwell (called a Baoli, or bath, in Delhi). This one was slightly smaller than and not as elaborate as the one near Ahmedabad. Nonetheless, it was well worth the visit. If you didn't know it was there, you certainly wouldn't just stumble upon it, even though it's just off busy Kasturba Gandhi Marg. Once you turn the corner into the lane, you've gone back into a different time.

The stepwell is behind the wall on the right. Even at this point I wasn't completely sure that there was something to see on this lane.
You enter the stepwell through this courtyard. The large tree is a banyan.
The well is about 15 m wide, 60 m long, and 30 m (? my estimate) deep from the top of the wall to the bottom.
This well is dry -- no water at the bottom.
Looking up from the bottom. This end of the well is covered, and there is a colony of bats hanging from the ceiling.
While at the well, you feel removed from New Delhi's bustle, but skyscrapers are only a few hundred meters away.

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