3. Rani Ki Vav also called as
Queens step well or Ranki van
was built in 1063 by queen
Udayamathi of the Chaulukya
Dynasty to commemorate her
husband, Bhimdev I
6. Located on the banks of the Saraswati River, this is one of the
oldest and finest step wells in Gujarat and is remarkably
preserved.
The step well is made in the form of an inverted temple
7. Steps lead down through multiple levels with lines of carved pillars and more
than 800 sculptures, mostly on Vishnu-avatar themes, as well as striking
geometric patterns.
8. It showcases superior craftsmanship of the era, and the unique Maru-Gurjara
architectural style and houses sculptures similar to the Vimalavasahi temple in
Mount Abu and Sun temple at Modhera
9.
10. Archeologists Henry Cousens and
James Burgess visited it in 1890s
when it was completely buried
under silt and only the shaft and
few pillars were visible.
The stepwell was rediscovered in
1940s, and the Archeological
Survey of India restored it in
1980s. The stepwell has been
listed as one of UNESCO's World
Heritage Sites since 2014.
11. Stepwell is built in a
way that any
amount of
earthquake cannot
damage them even
slightly. Even after
two great
earthquakes of
1819 and 2001