Dada Hari Vav

This ornate step-well in the Asarwa area of Ahmedabad was built in the late 15th century by a woman of the sultan's household. Descending several storeys through a series of pillared platforms, it is richly carved with floral and geometric ornament in the local Islamic style. Sunlight filters down the octagonal shaft to the water at the bottom, and the air cools markedly as one descends. Quieter than the region's better-known wells, it offers a beautifully preserved example of medieval Gujarati subterranean architecture.