A place without water.
By Tejas Chauhan
The coldness, humidity and silent nature of water reflects the calm and subtle atmosphere that surrounds this abandoned structure. The unique nature of this well structure, which once used to have water and life around can only be imagined now. Still, the strong essence of the atmosphere can be felt through its architecture that has emerged around the idea of the celebration of water.
1:30 PM
25th March 2021
Lived experience of a place.
A place without water.
As I enter the shaded surrounding of the stepwell complex, I get a sense of relief. At 1:30 pm in the mid-summer of Ahmedabad, where the sun is at its peak showering heat, every human being is in search for a place of shade. At that time, I realized the importance of the subterranean structure like stepwells. While entering the temple complex, the cold and smooth Kota surface of steps under the shade is experienced in sudden contrast to the outside. The dark, cold, and compact space of the temple complex in the first pavilion is perceived more intimidating. The reflecting cold surfaces of tiles and the additional things have made me lose the sense of the place. As I enter the stepwell structure, the small metal gets flushed in the light in the temple complex, again connecting back to the surroundings. The roughness and aged stones, broken ledges, the wild, dry vegetation that has found its place, and the intensity of bright sunlight in the summer afternoon made me imagine the living situation of the place. After hearing the stories of the snakes inhabiting the place from the neighborhood, I couldn’t dare to sit down at any place in the stepwell structure.
The intensity of darkness and the coldness at the end pavilion felt so soothing and horrifying at the same time. The in-between pavilion structure has been taken over completely by the bats; the sound of the pigeons are getting echoed in the open volume of the well structure. The relationship with the people and the structure can be imagined by observing the current situation of the ruins. The alteration of the stepwell structure grabs my attention, as the layer of dust on the surfaces on the sand pillar, the rough bricks on the parapet, collages of many raw metal material used as a jali to restrict the access, change the overall character of the place. The stark light falling on the heavy square pillar and sharply cutting the cuboidal volume captures my attention; that stark contrast of dark and bright light, the feeling of cold and humid inside, and the visuals of hot and dry outside perceived in complete contrast. My mind took time to digest the change as I am standing around the well structure. The journey through the changing contrast, with fear in mind was making a different image of the stepwell of my first visit.
The dual nature of the structure is getting replaced by overpowering religious activities. The newer addition of things in stepwell by the people completely changes the identity of the place. The addition of temporary and permanent elements — contradicts the materials, the language of the structure and also the purpose of structure along with the whole experience of the place. The association of religious activities in the well structure, combined with the surrounding community places makes the whole atmosphere of the place perceived as a ‘living well’, which contradicts the real purpose of the place. The current situation makes us question whether this is a place for the celebration of water or a place for worship?
12:30 AM
12th March 2021
Lived experience of a place.
A place for water or worship?
As I enter in the stepwell complex, I got isolated from the irritating sound of traffic on the road and the construction work that was disturbing the atmosphere of the stepwell complex. The organization of the things added on the old, blackish- colored sandstone, fully covered with layers of dust, reminds me of the dryness of the environment. The first impression of this structure is like entering a temple structure instead of the stepwell, but in this case, I was descending instead of climbing up. The collage of colored layer of the first visuals contrasts with the old sandstone structure. The layers of addition were disturbing the simplicity of structure. I sat down on the seating space inside the pavilion, which are above the ground. The unusual height of it makes it uncomfortable. The stark difference of outside light and heat is perceived in contrast in dark pavilion space. The group of ladies of the neighborhood were sitting on the steps of the pavilion in the shades and discussing their daily routine. The calmness in the environment, isolation of the structure from the outside makes it feel that the structure has become a part of their everyday life. The cold surface of the metal ledge of the door gave a contrasting feeling as compared to the heated environment of the courtyard. The unusual smell of the sandstone structure gets overpowered by the scents of flowers and offering materials. The small dark volume of the pavilion structure gets highlighted through the bright light coming from the opening on the central bay of the pavilion. The humidity and coldness of the earth in the third courtyard made me pause and sit there for a long while. While sitting at the corner end of the courtyard, my eyes move from the bright blue sky to the rough and broken sandstone to the series of red patch of chundari tied on the railing, and the green vegetation over the stepwell structure. The confusing movement of steps leading towards the water disconnects me with the surrounding as my constant focus stays on the next step. Here, the smell of green moss on the retaining wall, the vegetation, the dampness in the air, and the water gets overpowered by the scents of puja material in the temple structure. I observed people coming and going to visit the temple structure, the sonorous sound of bells; the chitchatting gets prominent in the calm volume. Their time of visit is very short because of not much space around in the temple pavilion. I feel that the intention of visiting stepwell has changed from celebrating the importance of water to becoming a religious worship place.
An Atmosphere around water.
The series of steps leading to the earth and the water source, the journey from light to dark, hot to cold, open to close, arid to humid impacts more in the first impression of the place, and that experience gets embedded in our memory. Experiencing the combination of natural elements through the simple linear structure is exceptional. The heaviness of the earth and the silence in the air is prominent when reaching the well structure. The stillness and calmness of the water gets enhanced by the darkness of the pavilion. The still water surface reflects the sky and connects us back to the outside; it is like the water is bridging and connecting the sky to the earth.
9:30 AM
28th February 2021
Lived experience of a place.
I sit on the cold surface of the sandstone, in-between one of the intermediate pavilions; on the platforms jutting out from the earthen wall. Leaning on the massive wall, it gives me a sense of heaviness of the structure that stood, which was broken by the continuous ornamentation on the wall. The gentle, pale yellow morning sunlight mimics the retaining wall in the form of offset profiles of openings. It highlights with shades of brown sandstones making the structure lighter. My eyes move through the framed clean blue sky to the yellow sunlight taking the wall’s shape to the pavilion’s darkness in contrast to the well-lit octagonal well structure. Waiting for the sunlight to touch the pavilion’s columns, to imagine the whole dark space becoming live and active. The moisture on the sandstone and the humidity in the air is giving a hint of presence of water. Sitting inside the structure, cold and dark space completely disconnected from the contrasting atmosphere of outside and the surroundings. The stark difference in atmosphere is evident from the outside to inside, where I am isolated with no car noises, no traffic, no heat and dryness in the air. But the roughness of the sandstone constantly reminds me of the purpose of the structure built in the hot and arid climate of Adalaj. The constant movement of the people coming and going from the central bay catches my eye while sitting on the side. People trying to adapt to the rhythm of steps, the uneven surfaces of the material, and the changing slope of the steps leading towards the water. I observed people struggling with the changing rhythm of the steps while moving down to the last pavilion, where the angle of slope is much higher, and the movement faster. People are pausing at the steps instead of stopping at the pavilion because of better light to click the perfect selfies or photographs of symmetrical perspectival frame aiming towards the octagonal well. The central bay is occupied continuously by the visitors to experience the grandness of the structure. The four ladies in white sarees, coming down from the dark pavilion caught my attention as they were discussing about taking a video of a place as a part of their memory. Their voice echoed loud enough for others to notice too. Also, I observed as one moves towards the water, the intensity of darkness and the atmosphere’s coldness affects the intensity of one’s voice, and everyone tends to lower down their voice. The subtle change in the sunlight is observed when it touches the pillars of the pavilion’s second story, the experience of the static space changes with the gradual transition of movement, light, and visuals.
