Agrasen Ki Baoli

Agrasen Ki Baoli (also known as behens Ki Baoli; transl. Baoli of Agrasen) is a 60-meter long and 15-meter wide historical stepwell in New Delhi, India.^[1]

Agrasen Ki Baoli
Agrasen ki Baoli in Delhi, a local historical monument.
Location within Delhi
General information
Architectural style	Indian
Town or city	Delhi
Country	India

Located on Hailey Road,^[a][b] near Connaught Place, Jantar Mantar, it was designated a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.

Although there are no known historical records to prove who built the stepwell, it is believed that it was originally built by members of the Aggarwal community in the name of their ancestor Agrasen,^[3] and the present architecture hints at it being rebuilt in the 14th century during the Tughlaq or Lodi period of the Delhi Sultanate. The baoli is open daily from 9 am to 5:30 pm.

Toponymy

A baoli in Delhi from the book Oriental Scenery, 1816 resembling, Agrasen Ki Baoli.

Baoli or bawdi, also referred to as baori or bauri, is a Hindi word (from Sanskrit wapi^[4][5] or vapi, vapika).^[6][7] In Rajasthan and Gujarat the words for stepwell include baoli, bavadi, vav, vavdi and vavadi.^[8] Water temples^[9] and temple stepwells were built in ancient India. The earliest forms of stepwell and reservoir were also built in India in places like Dholavira as far back as the Indus Valley civilisation.^[10]

Architecture

Panoramic view of Agrasen Ki Baoli

This baoli, with 108 steps, is among a few of its kind in Delhi. Three levels of the historic stepwell are visible. Each level is lined with arched niches on both sides. From an architectural perspective, this stepwell was probably rebuilt during the Tughlaq or Lodi period and is flanked by a small three-sided mosque towards the west.^[11] a very clear Persian-style architecture – bioclimatic architecture^{[clarification needed]}

In popular culture

The location has been used to shoot scenes from various Bollywood films, such as the blockbuster film PK starring Aamir Khan and Sultan starring Salman Khan. It was also featured in the 2017 Sridevi thriller Mom.^[12][13] The stepwell also appeared on the second episode of The Amazing Race Australia 2 in 2012.^[14]

There are also urban legends of the stepwell being haunted.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Gallery

• 
  Agrasen Ki Baoli is a popular tourist destination.
• 
  One of the many graffiti outside the monument

See also

• History of Delhi
  • Paleolithic sites in & around Delhi
  • Forts and palaces of Delhi used as the capital
  • Stepwells of Delhi

• Stepwells of India
  • Rani ki vav, UNESCO heritage listed
  • List of stepwells in India by states

• History of water supply and sanitation
  • Water supply and sanitation in the Indus-Saraswati Valley Civilisation
  • Ancient water conservation techniques

Notes

1. Named after administrator Malcolm Hailey.^[2]
2. The connecting road between Kasturba Gandhi Road and Barakhamba Road.

References

1. Agrasen ki Baoli gets new lease of life. The Times of India, 2 January 2002. .
2. Avijit Ghosh (24 April 2020). "In 1918 Delhi was in the grip of another killer contagion". Times of India.
3. Mittal, J.P. (2006), History of Ancient India (4250 BCE to 637 CE) page 675, ISBN 978-81-269-0616-1. The author considers king Agrasen an actual historical figure.
4. Suryakanta (1975), Sanskrit Hindi English Dictionary, page 519, Orient Longman. ISBN 086125 248 9.
5. Whitworth, George Clifford (1885), An Anglo-Indian Dictionary (see baoli).
6. Jutta Jain-Neubauer (1981), The step wells of Gujarat in art-historical perspective (see the term).
7. A Sanskrit English Dictionary by Monier Monier-Willams, originally published in 1899 by Clarendon Press, Oxford. Reprinted by Motilal Banarasidass.
8. "Water Harvesting Systems : Traditional Systems".
9. "All Important Information About Agrasen Ki Baoli". travelpraise.com. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
10. Shuichi Takezawa (August 2002). "Stepwells – Cosmology of Subterranean Architecture as seen in Adalaj" (PDF). Journal of Architecture and Building Science. 117 (1492): 24. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
11. Baolis in Delhi
12. "8 Facts You Didn't Know About Agrasen Ki Baoli". Native Planet. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
13. "Bollywood movies shot at Agrasen ki Baoli". bollylocations.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
14. "RECAP: THE AMAZING RACE AUSTRALIA, EPISODE 2.02 – "HE'S AS USELESS AS TITS ON A BULL."". dryedmangoez.com. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
15. "A Visit To Agrasen Ki Baoli Considered A Haunted Monument in New Delhi". desi Traveler. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
16. Jain, Aditi. "Agrasen Ki Baoli". Tripoto. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
17. Show, Subhas Chandra. "Agrasen ki Baoli Haunted, Ugrasen ki Baoli new Delhi". Ghoststoriesworld.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
18. "Agrasen Ki Baoli, New Delhi". hauntedindia.blogspot.in. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.

External links

28°37′34″N 77°13′30″E