Neemrana Baori

Neemrana Baori is a large stepwell close to Neemrana Fort, a short way off the Delhi–Jaipur highway, and ranks among the most impressive in India. Stepwells, also called vav or baoli, are underground water-harvesting structures that spread across India from about the seventh century, and they doubled as places where people met and cooled off.

Steep, almost vertical flights of steps drop in long tiers into a deep, cool shaft. The water table here lay so far down that in the dry season nearly 200 steps were needed to reach it, while monsoon rains would raise the water and drown the lower steps again, a cycle that repeated every year. The well still stores groundwater. The steps are uneven in places and demand care.