Zigzag steps
13 storeys deep.
Mustang Joe — CC0 · Daniel VILLAFRUELA — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0
Chand Baori is a stepwell in the village of Abhaneri in Rajasthan, about 82 km in a straight line east of Jaipur. It reaches about 30 m into the ground, making it one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India. It is named after Raja Chanda, a ruler of the local Nikumbh dynasty, and is dated to the 8th–9th centuries, though no inscription records its building. Later rulers added an upper palace building with arched galleries, so the site brings together two periods of water architecture in one place. About 3,500 narrow steps run down three sides in a dizzying zigzag pattern, 13 storeys deep, in the shape of an upside-down pyramid, to a square pool of green water at the bottom. The fourth side rises in tiers of pavilions and balconies, and colonnaded galleries surround the top of the well. Entry is paid. Visitors are usually not allowed down the steps, so the well is seen from the galleries above. Abhaneri lies near the road between Jaipur and Agra, so it is easy to add to a trip between the two.
13 storeys deep.
Tiers of balconies.
Around the top.
Abhaneri village, Rajasthan, India
Usually not; it is viewed from above.
By car from Jaipur or on the way to Agra.