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Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Stepwell in Patan, Gujarat built during the reign of the Chaulukya king Bhima
Rani ki Vav is a stepwell situated in the town of Patan in Gujarat, India. It is located on the banks of the Saraswati River. Its construction is attributed to Udayamati, the spouse of the 11th-century Chaulukya king Bhima I. Silted over, it was rediscovered in the 1940s and restored in the 1980s by the Archaeological Survey of India. It has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India since 2014. The stepwell is designed as an underground shrine or inverted temple symbolizing the sanctity of water, with sculptures depicting numerous Hindu deities. It is divided into seven stair levels, each with sculptural panels. These panels contain more than 500 principal sculptures and over a thousand minor ones, combining religious, secular, and symbolic imagery.
