Union Minister for Culture Shri G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the Photo exhibition on the Baolis of Delhi “Absent Appearance- A Shifting score of water bodies” on the occasion of World Heritage Day on April 18.
- The World Heritage Day is also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites and is meant to create awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage.
- The theme for World Heritage Day 2022, was “Heritage and Climate”.
World Heritages
- At present India is a member of the “World Heritage Committee” of UNESCO. There are 40 world heritage sites in India out of which 32 are cultural, 7 are natural sites and 1 mixed category.
- Out of these, 24 monuments and archaeological sites are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
- In the list of World Heritage of 2021, the beautiful architectural marvel “Ramappa Temple” built in the 13th century of Kakatiya style and the ancient Harappan city of Dholavbira were included. In addition to this, 49 sites are listed in the tentative list.
Baolis
- Since the inception of human civilization harnessing water for agriculture, daily consumption and other ritualistic activities is a general practice.
- The word the Baoli/Bawdi has derived from the Sanskrit word wapi or vapi/vapika. Baoli is commonly used in Gujarat, Rajasthan and parts of North India. The strategic locations of the baolis imply their importance and utility to a great extent.
- As per the published information there are nearabout 32 medieval baolis in Delhi out of which 14 baolis are either lost or buried. Further out of 18 baolis, 12 baolis are Centrally Protected and are under the protection of ASI.
- A typical baoli usually consists of three elements, the well in which the water is collected, the flight of steps to reach the ground water through several stories and interconnected pavilions.
- Generally, the step wells are U – shaped but there are always exceptions in architecture and L – shaped rectangular or octagonal stepwells are also not uncommon.
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