RANI KI VAV, PATAN

‘Times of India’, Vadodara edition has been running a supplement, highlighting the historically important heritage sites in Gujarat. They posted some breathtaking photographs of these sites. For a travel-bug like me, this motivation is too much to resist. Especially the snaps of Ranki Vav of Patan and Sun Temple of Modhera captured my imagination. I have visited both these sites when I was quite young. I only have very faint memories of the “Surya” mandir of Modhera, but nothing of Patan.

I sought out other individuals of our “travel-bug community”, Mr. Vivek Koralkar and Mr. Chirag Khambhati. Chirag had some social commitments the next day, hence gave a very non-committal answer. That’s typical of Chirag; you can never expect a straight and easy-to-understand ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. But anyway, we all gathered at Vivek’s place at Ahmedabad the earlier night. Had a gala party. We stayed back at Vivek’s.

Morning, by 8.30, we were out of the house. Ofcourse, our original plan was to start at 7.30, but still we started reasonably "on time".

Gauri was not feeling too good today. As we reached Mehsana, she was feeling nauseating. She took some soda (to release gas), but to no avail. Anyway, we proceeded. By the time we reached Patan, she was quite ok.

We took the route from Ahmedabad-Mehsana-take left turn-Patan. Preferably start early in the morning to avoid sweltering heat during the summers. Carry enough drinking water and some snacks along. There is not much scope of buying these articles at site. The drive from Ahmedabad to Patan is about 125 kms. Will take around 2 hours due to heavy traffic from Palasana (8 km. prior to Mehsana) right upto Patan.

Today being Sunday, Patan town wore a deserted look. Right from the point of entry in the town, there were sign-boards placed at regular intervals directing the tourists towards the Ranki Vav. We actually passed through the whole town and emerged on the other side.  The archeological site is very well maintained with well tended lawns and a cemented parking lot and reasonably functional public urinal.

Patan, founded by Vanraj Chavda in 746 AD, is situated on the banks of the River Saraswati. It was the capital of Gujarat from 746 AD t o 1411 A D. Three major Rajput clans the Chavadas (746 - 942AD), Solankis (942-1244 AD) and Vaghelas (1244 - 1304AD) — ruled from here. The Solanki rule is considered as the golden period; prosperity peaked during the reign of King Kumarpal.



Rani ki Vav, a Solanki period architecture can be seen at Anahilwada Patan, the capital of Gujarat from the 8th century to the 15th century. The step well is a structure built below the ground level. Generally, very little of the actual structure can be seen or even visualized from the ground level. Especially, from a distance, we can never make out the enormity of a structure with ornate pillars and well adorned walls with intricate carved figurines, and that too, descending to 11 floors below ground level. From ground level, it is difficult to imagine the grandeur of the “Vav” (Step well). But as you approach towards the entrance and as the structure slowly unfurls before your eyes, you shall gasp in awe at the real beauty. 

Ranki Vav entrance point

The Rani ki Vav was built in 1050 by Maharaja Bhim Dev for his queen Rani Udaymati. The Rani ki Vav was discovered in 1886-87, however, till 1960, nobody was aware of its existence. The present remains of the Vav is probably less than 50% of the original structure. Much of it was destroyed during the last earthquake of 2002. The vav measures about 64mts long, 20mts  wide & 27mts deep. It is laid out in the east-west direction with the circular well proper being in the west & entrance in the east. The walls are built of bricks faced with hewn stones.
The Vav is 11 floors below the ground level. Tourists are allowed to descend only to 4 floors.
Vivek was thrilled when he saw the sculptures, what with the shutter-bug that he is, it was a treat for him.

Shutter-bug Vivek

The steps in the Vav were arranged in triangular series and spaced alternatively level after level as can be seen in the pic. "Technically" speaking, they seem like 'Sin' waves stacked one above the other such that crest meets trough and vice versa.

'Sin' wave steps

The walls are full of idols of gods & goddesses. Perfectly proportioned, exquisite, very innovative, beautifully and richly carved figures adorn them. Every inch of the walls and pillars must have been carved in its hey-day. Today we see some empty patches in-between the carved stone figures as a reminder of the past glory (visible in the pic below).

Blank patches on the walls

 

Kalki

Balaram

The architectural brilliance and elegance of the vav, is represented in its pristine glory in the ornamental work. The beautifully proportioned sculptures of Vishnu Avatars (dasha avataras) as Varaha and Kalki, Bhairava, Ganesha, Surya, Kubera, Vishvarupa-Vishnu, Lakshmi-Narayan , Astadikpalas and other forms adorn the walls flanking the staircase and within the walls of the well, being the ample testimony to the mastery of the Solanki sculptors, in depicting rythm, vigour, beauty and various moods in stone.

The most dramatical and futuristic being the "Kalki" avatar and the Mahisasur Mardini.

Mahisasur Mardini

Vaman & Ram with Apsaras in-between

The Idol of Vaman avatar in the adjoining pic has been created with an element of sense of humour in mind. He is shown with a plump body and a painfully undersized umbrella. Notice the beautiful proportions, the "Bhav" and "Bhangima" (expression and posture) of the Apsaras here. The female figures have been depicted in various poses of  apsaras, nagkanya, yogini, Mohini.

Ghat-Pallav design

The pillars claim specific mention due to their intricate and clean carvings.These pillars which support the roof have the square base decorated with "Ghat-Pallav" design (Vase & foliage) as is seen here.

Nag Kanya

According to "Garuda Purana", Lord Vishnu had 10 avatars (incarnations). However, according to "Bhagvata Purana", Lord Vishnu had 25 avatars. The Dashavatar (10 avatars / incarnations) mentioned in the Garuda Purana are more popular and known to majority. "Kalki" avatar amongst them is the tenth and a Maha Avatar of Vishnu. In Hinduism, Kalki Maha Avatar (great incarnation) of Vishnu will come to end the present age of darkness and destruction known as 'Kali Yuga'.  

Great importance is also given to the sculpture of Lord Vishnu reclining on "Adishesha", which is depicted centrally in three registers girdling the well.

It is said that there is also a small gate below the last step of the step well which opens to a 30 kilometre tunnel (presently blocked by stones and mud) which leads to the town of Siddhpur near Patan. It was used as an escape gateway for the king in times of war. A similar tunnel is said to connect from Sahasralinga Talav (Pond with 1000 Shiv lingas), an archeological site about 500mts. from the Vav.

Since ages, Patan is known as the place of Patolas. Patolas are silk sarees with very intricate, complex geometrical designs made vide a highly time consuming and difficult tie & die process. If you have noticed, majority of the designs present on Patolas today, can be seen in the richly carved panels of Rani Ki Vav structure. Patola has had a deep imprint on the culture and identity of Patan, to the extent seen here. Patan became a centre of patola weaving during King Kumarpal's reign (1143-1173AD).

Kumarpal was a devout Jain follower. He was very scrupulous about his attire and always wore/used new patola clothes while going to temples. One day, the temple priest barred Kumarpal from entering the temple, saying that his clothes were ‘impure’. An inquiry into this led to the finding that the king of Jalna was exporting the fabric after first using them as bedspreads. Deeply offended, Kumarpal fought and defeated the ruler of Jalna and brought 700 Salvi craftsmen to Patan so that he could be assured of procuring unsullied fabrics. It is believed that some weavers also came from Karnataka in addition to those that came from Maharashtra. At a later date, Kumarpal converted the Salvi families into Shwetamber Jains.Today also, there is a distinct portion of the town reserved for these Patola weavers, known as Salvi Vad. The distinctive long straight streets of Salvivad in Old Patan, once a hub of Patola weavers, were laid out especially for stretching out warp threads.

After spending about 3 hours in the 'Vav', we started to come out. Emotionally elated, but physically drained, we were in desperate need of some food to replenish our "fuel" stock. The state govt. along with the Archeological survey of India have developed and maintained a beautiful garden around the site. We selected a big tree with dense foliage giving ample shade for us to rest. Fortunately our 'dames' had brought along all the leftovers of the last night. There is no proper restaurant or even a decent stall where we can buy some eatables for the

kids. Hence it is advisable to carry some food stuff and water bottle with you. 
Settling down after a long activity is the most un-settling experience. Only when we sat down and stretched our back and legs, did we realize the amount of fatigue our muscles were in. But ofcourse, its a relieving experience. We actually wanted to take a short nap in the cool shade, but then, we did not have so much time. 


We enquired with the local chap about the location of the "Sahastraling Talav". It is just about 500mts. from Rani ki vav complex. 

The lake, built in 1084, was earlier know as the 'Durlabh sarovar' named after King Durlabhrai, the ancestor of Siddharaj, who built the lake. Siddharaj repaired and renovated the lake. Of the 7-hectare spread of ruins only 20 percent has been unearthed, excavated in 1942-43, and though it was destroyed three times in attacks, its splendor is still evident.

Sahastraling lake, draws water from river Saraswati flowing near Patan. There is a maze of feeding channels built of bricks and stone, which bring water from river Saraswati and empty in the lake. There is a finely carved three-ringed sluice gate that channeled water from the Saraswati river into the reservoir, and it is said that the lake had inbuilt natural filtration.

Three ringed sluice gates/channels

Towards the western end that is ‘Rudra Kupa’ in which water from the river Saraswati was collected and then allowed to pass into the inlet channels of the Sahastraling Tank. This cistern is about forty meters in diameter. Highly symmetrical and beautifully built channels give a good insight into the engineering acumen of the people of yester-year.  The Sahastraling lake, though not too big in  size by present standard, is a treat to study the distribution network developed to cater to the kingdom.

Rudra Kupa

As the name suggests, the lake was lined with 1000 small Shiv lingas; and hence the name Sahastra (1000) linga (Shivlinga). During the course of time, there were several attacks of different armies from other kingdoms who came and plundered these structures. Today only very little remains of one of the Shiv temple with series of 48 pillars can be seen at the eastern embankment. This Shiv temple was intact till the 16th Century. During that period, Bairam Khan, Akbar's tutor was passing through Patan on his way to Mecca.

Remains of the Shiv temple

In some untoward incident, he was murdered
either after he returned from boating in the

Remains of the Shiv temple in one of the water channels

tank or probably during boating. This brought the ire of the Mughals and the place was attacked and razed to ground.