Unesco world heritage tag for Rani-ki-Vav

AHMEDABAD: The splendour and intricacy of the 11th century Rani-ki-Vav in Patan will now enthrall the world. Unesco's World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Doha at its 38th session inscribed the stepwell of the Solanki era as a world heritage site on Sunday. Rani-ki-Vav will be Gujarat's second world heritage property to be placed on Unesco’s coveted list after Champaner-Pavagadharchaeological park a decade ago in 2004.
The stepwell bears testimony of queen Udaymati’s love for her husband king Bhimdev I of the Solanki period and was built between 1063 AD and 1068 AD. Barely a two-hour drive from Ahmedabad near Patan town, this subterranean stepwell symbolizes the peak of Gujarat-style architecture. One would be awed at the intricate carvings of apsaras, the sculpted walls depicting different avatars of Vishnu and the Mother Goddess slaying demons Mahishasur Mardini. The stepwell entered the tentative list of Unesco’s world heritage list in July 1998.

It was in 2012 that an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team led by former superintendent archaeologist of Vadodara Circle, K C Nauriyal, had prepared a dossier for the stepwell for Unesco's approval.
Nauriyal was also part of the Indian delegation at Doha. After the submission was made, an International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) team, the Unesco’s WHC advisory team, had visited Patan in October last year and conducted a detailed study. It even talked to locals on how they perceived the stepwell and what it meant to them. The ICOMOS team was led by professor Zhang Jie of Tsinghua University, China.