2 more of the several other important structures that I visited in Pavagadh Champaner regions are the Saat Khaman and the Helical Vav.
The Rajput fort in Pavagadh has gates on all sides. One of it is the Budhiya Darwaja in the western side. Close to it is the Sadan Shah Gate. At the end of this gate is this Sat Kaman or the 7 arches. Presently only 6 arches are present withstanding the fury of nature of the period of time.
The way the arches were built is very interesting. The individual stones are trapezium shaped, so when laid upon each other they form the arch. They do not have any mortar between them. Their position is locked with a little pestle-mortar joint (a little projection on one stone and a little depth in the other that sits on top of it). The most important stone in the entire arch is the topmost one called the keystone, which is a wedge shaped stone.
There are some little windows on the parapet wall as well. The architecture here is also unusual. The windows are arch shaped as well. They are similar to the main arches, but smaller in size but with wider stones!!! Not just that - the windows begin bigger and end smaller!!! No, I don't think I can explain that in words properly without much architectural terminologies. Just have a look at the above pic to know what am I talking about.
And ofcourse the view from atop is fabulous!!!!
Another place where I went from there was the Helical or the Spiral Step well. Its circular in shape and has an opening on one side. The steps to get into this well start at this opening. As the circular portion begins, the steps start to spiral along the wall of the well.
The width of the steps in 1.2m. The well is built of trapeze cut stones. However the parapet wall was built in a later era out of bricks.
Sadly I reached this place around 6 pm and the dusk has already started and I could hardly see the architecture properly, let alone getting some decent pics of it...
Coming back with more!
TO GET THERE:
To reach Champaner (Pavagadh hill base) from Vadodara Railway Station: 50km via Halol
From the base of the Pavagadh Hill, 4km on the ghat road. Vans are available are cost per head rate from hill base.
To reach Helical Vav: 2km towards west (towards Halol) from the hill base at ground level.
From the base of the Pavagadh Hill, 4km on the ghat road. Vans are available are cost per head rate from hill base.
To reach Helical Vav: 2km towards west (towards Halol) from the hill base at ground level.
On Google Maps:
Saat Khaman - http://goo.gl/kVhaL0
Helical Vav - http://goo.gl/SwHdFL
Dedicated to Prof. Swaminathan & Co...
The kamman looks nice. Saw a similar one in Bijapur.
ReplyDeleteUnique structure..!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Bijapur yet, Niranjan and I envy you for that! :D
ReplyDeleteIndeed Sridharan.