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Book review: The Vanishing Stepwells of India – ancient feats of engineering documented

Victoria Lautman travelled through the wastelands of western India to document ancient water-harvesting systems – brilliant examples of ancient engineering, now largely forgotten

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An image from The Vanishing Stepwells of India, by Victoria Lautman. Photos: Victoria Lautman

The Vanishing Stepwells of India

by Victoria Lautman

Merrell Publishers

4/5 stars

The cover of Victoria Lautman’s book The Vanishing Stepwells of India carries a striking shot of the Mahila Bagh ka Jhalra, a stepwell hidden in plain sight in Jodhpur, one of India’s most popular tourist destinations. Locals and tourists alike walk past this every day, mostly without a clue that an engineering marvel lies in their midst.

A spiral stepwell included in Victoria Lautman’s book, The Vanishing Stepwells of India.
A spiral stepwell included in Victoria Lautman’s book, The Vanishing Stepwells of India.
Stepwells – as the name suggests – are subterranean structures with several steps leading down to them, usually built in the arid, water-scarce regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan in western India. Although there is poor documentation, the first stepwell in India is believed to have been built around AD300.
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