Hampar Vav

Hampar Vav, a stepwell at Hampar in Dhrangadhra taluka, Surendranagar district, is protected by the state. It carries no inscription or figure sculpture, so its date of the 16th or 17th century rests on its style, especially its pavilion-towers and purnaghata ornament; it resembles the Naga Bava Vav of Dhrangadhra, dated around 1525. The village probably lay under the Jhala rulers of Dhrangadhra.

The well runs north–south, entered from the south. Steps rise on three sides to a raised platform under a half-round dome, an entrance mandapa on twelve pillars, eight of them set in an octagon. A long, narrow stepped corridor follows, with five pavilion-towers; its wall is damaged near the fourth. A spiral stair beside the fifth tower leads down, and in the monsoon water rises to the first level. The well still gives fresh water, which runs to a long trough on the west through a spout shaped like a mythical elephant.