13 storeys, about 3,500 steps
Roughly 30 metres deep and about 35 metres along each side, with steps zigzagging around three sides. Built in the 8th to 9th century.
Depth and steps by structure
Rajasthan's stepwells are read by three numbers: how many storeys they drop through, how many steps they carry, and how far down they reach. Chand Baori at Abhaneri runs 13 storeys and about 3,500 narrow steps over a roughly 30 metre drop, and the same three figures tell you how any baori, baoli or vav is built.
01
Start from the rim: count the storeys visible, then take the metre depth from a plan, then the step count from the flights. These three readings give the same structure in three units.
02
Chand Baori gives storeys and steps, Rani ki Vav gives length, width, levels and panels, Panna Meena ka Kund gives the stair pattern. Set the units side by side before drawing any conclusion about which is bigger.
03
The zigzag is a mechanism, not an ornament: it converts a 30 metre fall into a walkable path that reaches the water at whatever level it stands that week.
Depth is read two ways at once: the metre drop and the count of storeys stacked above the water.
A stepwell is a well with flights of steps cut into its sides, and its depth is the distance from ground level down to the water at the bottom. Chand Baori at Abhaneri is roughly 30 metres deep and about 35 metres along each side, which makes it one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India.
Storeys give the vertical rhythm of that drop. Chand Baori has 13 of them, each a landing where the zigzag turns. The storey count is what you can see from the rim; the metre figure is what you feel on the way down.
Depth also sets how the structure behaves: the deeper the shaft, the more levels of steps are needed to reach the water at any point in the year.
Roughly 30 metres deep and about 35 metres along each side, with steps zigzagging around three sides. Built in the 8th to 9th century.
About 64 metres long, 20 metres wide and 27 metres deep, with more than 500 sculpted panels. Added to the UNESCO list in 2014.
Built in the 16th century at Amber near Jaipur, known for the repeating X pattern of its steps seen from above.
Built in the 1740s under Maharani Tawarji at Jodhpur, one of the deeper urban stepwells in the set.
Stepwells store water below ground where it stays cooler than surface water, and the flights reach it at any level.
Baori and baoli are the Rajasthani words, vav the Gujarati form of the same building.
The flights of steps are arranged so the water is reachable at any level.
| Stepwell | Depth | Extent | Storeys or levels | Steps or panels | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chand Baori, Abhaneri | about 30 m | about 35 m each side | 13 storeys | about 3,500 steps | 8th–9th c., additions by 18th c. |
| Rani ki Vav, Patan | 27 m | 64 m × 20 m | 7 levels | 500+ sculpted panels | 11th c., UNESCO 2014 |
| Panna Meena ka Kund, Amber | not stated | criss-cross stair plan | not stated | symmetrical criss-cross stairs | 16th c. |
| Toorji ka Jhalra, Jodhpur | about 50 m | not stated | not stated | not stated | 1740s |
| Harshat Mata temple, Abhaneri | — | beside Chand Baori | — | — | with Chand Baori |
| Saraswati river, Patan | — | silted over Rani ki Vav | — | — | before 2014 |
Figures follow the established descriptions of Chand Baori, Rani ki Vav, Panna Meena ka Kund and Toorji ka Jhalra.