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Dada Harir Stepwell Ahmedabad – The Ultimate Bai Harir Vav Guide!
Out of the two ancient stepwells that are located around Ahmedabad, Dada Harir Stepwell (Bai Harir Vav) is often cast aside for the more famous one in . But, I would highly recommend that you don’t skip this historic water temple while exploring the UNESCO World Heritage City! It is located in the district of Aswara and it is far bigger with equally as amazing architecture on its many levels. As it’s a bit of a hidden gem in the city, you can come here to escape the crowds in an oasis of calm and have a respite from the heat. Plus, it has much more freedom to move around and explore! This fact alone made it my favourite stepwell as there were no limits to where you could access which made it a lot more fun. Here’s a complete guide for visiting Dada Harir Stepwell in Ahmedabad, Gujarat!
AN INTRODUCTION TO VAVS IN GUJARAT A Vav in Gujarat is a stepwell, the word comes from the Gujarati Language. Also called a water temple, this involves a series of steps that lead down to a well that collects water. Stepwells have different names around the country. In the North of India, they will commonly have the name Baoli from the Hindi Language, like in Delhi. Or, in Rajasthan, you may find they have the name Kund. In total, there are 2 Vavs in Ahmedabad that have survived and are now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India as tourist attractions. These are the Adalaj Ni Vav and the Dada Harir Stepwell. Although most people make a beeline for Adalaj, I would highly recommend you give the Dada Harir Stepwell a chance. There are thought to be 100 ancient stepwells in Gujarat that have survived the ages. There are also 2000 historic stepwells in India today!
WHAT WERE STEPWELLS USED FOR IN INDIA? The dry landscape in the North of India often meant that there were many water shortages in cities years ago. So, to provide a solution, stepwells were built to collect water and act as a reservoir for communities. As the water source was something that everyone needed in the area, Baoli’s essentially brought people together! This is where locals would meet to chat, seek shade from the heat, collect water to wash clothes, and bathe. It was almost like a modern-day community hall. In Gujarat, these vav stepwells even went one step further and used them for religious rituals and festivals as well.
WHAT IS DADA HARIR STEPWELL OR BAI HARIR VAV? The Dada Harir Stepwell is a gorgeous 15th-century water temple which is located in the Aswara district of Ahmedabad. It has five levels and they are held up by intricately carved pillars that have perfect symmetry through the well. At one end, there is a huge octagonal vav that is 190 feet deep. It can be accessed via a narrow spiral staircase inside the structure. This stepwell is quite unique in the fact that it has both Arabic and Sanskrit inscriptions as well as Jain and Hindi idols carved inside. There are also Persian carvings of flowers and elephants lining the walls too. The stepwell runs deep underground. The lower the level, the cooler the temperature gets. It’s thought that many people would have used it as a respite from the heat. Some travelling traders would even sleep here for shelter before there was such a thing as a hotel. The fact that there are carvings from both Hindu and Islamic religions means that this stepwell was made as a ground to be shared by all communities. Dada Harir stepwell also welcomed travellers who visited from afar, even 500 years ago! Inside, you can even find an inscription that says just that.
DADA HARIR STEPWELL HISTORY Bai Harir Vav was built by Dhai Harir, or Harir Sultani, in 1485. She was the superintendent of the Royal Harem in the Sultan’s household (who knew there was such a thing?)! She was a great lady serving under the infamous Mehmud Begada. As well as building this stepwell, she built a small mosque and tomb nearby where she is buried. According to the inscriptions, she provided the funding herself for the construction which would have cost around 3 lakhs (£3,000) at the time! For those days, it was a small fortune. We know this as there are both Sanskrit and Arabic carvings at either end of the well that read the following; “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕-𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕, 𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝑨𝒃𝒖𝒍 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒂𝒉𝒎𝒖𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉, 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒖𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉, 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉, 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒖𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉, 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒖𝒛𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎. 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 2𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒊-𝒖𝒍-𝒂𝒘𝒘𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 26𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏”
WHERE IS DADA HARIR STEPWELL LOCATED IN AHMEDABAD? The stepwell is in the Aswara district and is around 2 kilometres from the Ahmedabad Junction railway station. It’s a 20-minute walk from there. It’s also fairly close to the Sabarmati River area where most of the central guesthouses and hotels are based in the city. So, you may find that you walk there quite easily. As I was exploring the cities main attractions, I decided to travel to the stepwell by Uber. I loved using Uber in Ahmedabad as I found the rickshaws (tuk-tuks) were quite hard to barter within the city. Depending on where you are travelling from in Ahmedabad, you should expect to pay around 100-200 rupees to access the stepwell from the centre.
BAI HARIR VAV TIMINGS AND ENTRY FEE Dada Harir stepwell is open from 7 am – 6 pm every day for visitors to access. I would recommend planning at least 1-2 hours for your visit. You’ll be amazed at how long you spend here exploring and taking photos. There is no entry fee to explore Dada Harir Stepwell which makes it an awesome budget activity too!
PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS & THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING 1. Although this stepwell is pretty central in Ahmedabad, it sees a fraction of the crowds of Adalaj. This makes it the perfect location for photos at any time of the day. 2. If you did want it completely empty, I’d recommend avoiding weekends and come here as early as possible or later on in the day. I visited around 3 pm and there was not another soul here (apart from the caretaker). 3. There is not much light in this stepwell as it’s underground. But, there are fractions of light that shine through and make a great play of light and shadows which is nice. 4. Although this stepwell is free, one of the guards here decided to give me a mini-tour! He took me around the secret passageways and also took some nice photos of me and I tipped him at the end. Not an essential part of a visit by any means but it’s nice to help the volunteers out. 5. It can get really dark inside the well, especially on the winding staircase. So, I’d make sure you have a phone light or torch and watch your step! WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR VISIT When you arrive at the stepwell by taxi/rickshaw, you’ll be dropped off on the roadside which is just outside the entrance gate. This makes the stepwell really easy to locate but it almost appears hidden as it’s underground. Just step through that gate and walk towards the canopies in the area. You’ll see some steep steps that lead down towards the octagonal well. Alternatively, you can enter via the Durgah temple (mosque) at the other end. From this way, you’ll most likely see the narrow winding staircase by the octagonal vav. If you walk down this, you’ll come across the largest part of the well first. It doesn’t really matter which way you enter from, you can easily navigate your way through to either end. However, I’d say that the open stairway entrance that I entered through is far safer with a lot more light. The winding staircase is extremely dark and narrow. You are not required to take your shoes off while exploring the stepwell. Which is a good job as there is a lot of pigeon poop about!
EXPLORING THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DADA HARIR STEPWELL The reason why I loved this stepwell so much is that there weren’t really any limits to what you could explore around here. It was like a labyrinth and totally gave me those David Bowie vibes! I visited many stepwell’s in Gujarat on my travels but it was really only this one that gave you the most freedom. However, it’s good to remember that this place is over 500 years old! So, although it has been fantastically preserved, the foundations may not always be as stable as they look.
In part, that’s why I was glad that I had my ‘unofficial tour guide’ to show me around Dada Harir stepwell. He knew all the passageways and took great care to make sure I didn’t slip. I don’t think I would have seen as much here if it wasn’t for him. As I was here alone and was the only tourist there, you couldn’t hear a pin drop. The octagonal well area and dark staircases were so creepy and walking around by myself with my overactive imagination would have been a bad mix. The birds and bats flying out of nowhere didn’t help haha! I’m also claustrophobic, so I appreciated knowing that someone knew where we were in the stepwell! Otherwise, I’m sure I would have got lost and panicked in that dark maze with those tiny staircases. Despite all that, looking back, it was really fun. It’s like the whole place has been trapped in time!
Cre: thirdeyetraveller

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