Adalaj Bawri a 500 hundred years old water marvel

Adalaj stepwell is a 500-year-old heritage site on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. It’s a stepwell constructed to store water. But the place, stores history too.

The legend has it, that a Muslim invader Mohammed Begda to win over the widow Roopa Ba(or Rooda Ba in the local language) of the slain Rana Veer Singh of the Vaghela dynasty, was asked by the queen to complete the building of the stepwell. The story ends when Queen Rupa Bai outwitted Begda and committed Sati in the stepwell. The story may be a little gore but the place reeks of beauty.

The beauty which I happened to witness on an expected day trip. I had ample time to spare after dropping off my son at an exam center in Ahmedabad. So me and wife planned for a few hour trips to a nearby place. We closed in on Adalaj Stepwell which is a 35 minutes ride from the city center. Reaching the place is easy and just of few meters from the Ahmedabad Patan highway.

To me when I travel a hearty and fulfilling breakfast is a great beginner of the day. And what more fulfilling could it be for us when we had just outside the landmark complex on a roadside tea stall a plate full of hot पकौड़े and steaming tea to accompany? And if you add the beaming hospitality of the vendor nothing can match the moment. We were skeptical to go inside the stepwell unknown of what the wet place may store for us. We couldn’t be more surprised by the genius of the craftsmen and the stone masonry present inside. The place is built of stone and what design and symmetry of that structure are. It’s pure brilliance and outstanding.

The structure is 3 storied with a large water tank in the base. We had to go down the steps to reach the water and a lot of coolness is there. One can sit there for a hours together. The complex is made of large grass lawns all around the structure where one can laze around in the cool wintery sun or can take shelter in the tree shades in summer.

The complex boosts of a few eating joints as I described earlier but not a full restaurant around. So we have to explore outside the area for an eating joint where Google Maps comes in handy. And we used it to the full.