First published: 11/03/17.

Ralf Regele 4.5

Rani-Ki-Vav

Rani-ki-Vav (Inscribed)

Rani-ki-Vav by Ralf Regele

This is a really nice site - a spectacular building with a rich history, off the beaten tourist tracks but well-developed for a visit. The fact it was buried for centuries and only recently excavated only adds to the charm. I like the general architecture of stepwells, but this one comes jam-packed with rich stone carvings. I rented a driver for a day from Ahmadabad and visited the site together with Modhera (also very worthy). The site itself is fenced in and guarded - which means it is clean and free of touts. It's not too big - there are no further buildings apart from the stepwell. A bit of climbing is required to reach the bottom of it. Compared to the Ahmadabad stepwells, the Rani-ki-Vav is much more decorated, but also a bit more damaged. I would recommand to visit the adalaj stepwell first to get an impression of the general stepwell layout, and than the Rani-ki-Vav for sheer beauty.

All-in-all, I think this site needs a bit more love - it certainly deserves better than scrape around the bottom of our top lists !

Visited: Nov 2015

Importance: 3/5 Beauty: 5/5 Uniqueness: 5/5 Environment: 3/5 Experience: 5/5

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