Ugrasen ki Baoli

August 2011

by
Published

Treasure

At the centre of New Delhi lies the 15th century structure known variously as Ugrasen ki Baoli and Agrasen ki Baoli. Left there to ruin in the 21st century as if by mistake, or perhaps due to its uncanny ability to remain hidden in plain sight.

Originally built as a safeguard against unpredictable water availability, the baoli or stepwell today has all but completely dried up. It is now a heavenly refuge for the pigeon and bat populations of Central Delhi. The solid walls of stone are lined with nesting pigeons and the one hundred and four long steps are littered with their excreta.

Quite beautiful, actually.

Speaking of treasures hiding in plain sight, my good friend Rashmi has finally started her own photoblog. She has developed this clean and soothing aesthetic and I strongly encourage you to check out her work. I had the privilege of designing the site, but really her photos are so good that they would rock any theme.

Location

28° 37' 33.6'' N, 77° 13' 30'' E

Camera Settings

  • Canon EOS 300D
  • 18.0mm
  • 1/320s
  • f/3.5
  • ISO 200

Baoli entrance Baoli archways Baoli East wall

Comments (7)

Comments

Rashmi

Lovely choices. Having seen the similar image over the web in the recent times, this hands down, looks down right awesome.

And again, thank you. I hope I can match up to those kind words. Wonder how long it’s going to take to match up to work like this though. :)

Prateek

Thanks! I’m quite pleased with this myself.

As for matching, I don’t think that should be your goal. Moreover, what I wrote already applies, so there’s scope for surpassing not matching. :)

Rakesh

This one’s been on my Delhi list for too long. Great shots, especially the symmetry of the one above.

Prateek

Thanks Rakesh. Very calming place this, and almost no visitors to disturb the peace. Would’ve been perfect if only for the stench.

Did you notice the colour gradient in the walls on different levels?

Abhishek

Tried to favorite the photo on top on Flickr. Wasn’t able to find it.

Looks really good!

Prateek

Thanks Abhishek. These photos are up on Flickr now. I get a little lazy after publishing a post, hence the delay.

Vega Chauhan

The first one is beautiful and spooky !

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