Rani ki vav, Stepwell monument in Patan, India.
Rani ki vav is a multistorey stepwell in Patan, India, extending 65 meters in length and reaching down 28 meters below ground level. It consists of seven descending terraces connected by staircases and galleries that once led to the water table.
Queen Udayamati commissioned the stepwell in 1063 as a memorial to her late husband King Bhimdev I. Construction lasted roughly 20 years and was completed in the mid 11th century.
The stepwell is designed as an inverted temple honouring the sanctity of water, and its panels depict Vishnu in his avatars, including Rama, Vamana, Mahishasuramardini and Kalki. The name means "The Queen's Stepwell", after Udayamati, and the site was named India's "Cleanest Iconic Place" at the 2016 Indian Sanitation Conference.
The site is accessible from Ahmedabad by bus, with the journey taking around three and a half hours. Tickets are issued on site by the archaeological authority, and the visit is possible throughout the year.
In the 1890s Henry Cousens and James Burgess found only the well shaft and a few pillars above ground, describing a pit 87 metres across. James Tod noted that material from the stepwell was reused in another Patan stepwell, probably Trikam Barot ni Vav. An image of Udayamati was recovered during the excavations.
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