CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY A step well (Baoli, Vav, Vapi) is generally a rectangular structure containing a draw well, constructed below the ground level. It is approached by a long stepped corridor which leads from the ground level to the water of the well. Building stepped-wells especially in arid regions was a common practice in the Indian subcontinent. Mostly placed on travel routes, these not only served to quench thirst of the travellers, the space created several levels below the surface of these elaborate wells provided cool resting places. Besides the well these used to have additional tanks for bathing and washing purposes. The Center for Art and Archaeology's image collection of stepped-wells include documentation from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
The well is named after the carved archway (toran). The brackets are decorated with birds and flower motifs and kirtimukha. Two registers of niches line the interior of the well. Most of the carved deities survive intact. A pair of niches house the deities Shiva and Ganesha that are encased in foil.
Lautman, Victoria, The Vanishing Stepwells of India, 2017, 180-181.