Not a lot of people know about this quaint, lovely vav in the town of Sihor, Saurashtra – very short detour off the Bhavnagar – Palitana highway. If you are in the area, do consider visiting and acknowledging the place. You can also visit the shrines, keep some money etc… – if not for the religious sentiment, then simply for the preservation of such places. Such responsible involvement from our side with regards the many heritage monuments scattered across the country is very important to keep them preserved and in good condition.

In Feb 2022, I was on a family drive from Ahmedabad to Palitana and keen to explore something on the way. Earlier in the day we stopped at a Jain temple by the side of the highway. We get good food in these tirthas plus darshana. Sometimes these jain tirthas on these routes, especially in Gujarat and Rajasthan include some very ancient temples and tirthasthalas with intriguing stories and history. Even for these tirthas, they do count on the patronage of travellers and pilgrims on the road. So, I love these visits and conduct them with a sense of exploration but also as an involved member of society.

This is the fourth step-well, or ‘vav’, I have visited. The previous three being the fairly well know Adalaj ni vav and two lesser known ones near it Ambapur vav and Uvarsad vav.

Sihor ni vav, also called Brahma Kund

We took the detour into Sihor from the Bhavnagar highway, and asked a few locals about which of the two smaller lanes we should take to visit the Brahmakund stepwell. They gave us directions, but in hindsight the other road might be better. Basically, the roads are quite small and the town folk seem to have some different thoughts about ‘better road for a car’. The road we took was tiny and we had to let another car pass. Thus, our few weeks old Wagonner was jammed right into some thorny bushes to make room. Dad got a bit antsy over the whole situation.

But once we got to this vav, there was empty room to park the car right by it. And at first glimpse of its medieval architecture and many shrines around it, I knew this was a good find!

The water was unkempt, the stepwell structure also was not the most clean one. But it carries with it a traditional and heritage feel. Moreover, it is not decrepit. I could easily picture how wonderful it would have been in its prime days. I loved it. I walked down, and circumambulated around the stepwell noting all the shrines and architectural details.

Shrines included the Samudra mataji, who I had first met at Bhuleshwar in Mumbai. Was this the same goddess? Hanuman ji and Shiva temples also graced the place.

I didn’t have much time, as we were tired coming all the way and keen to reach Palitana soon. It was hot noon hour and I headed up soon. As I piled into the car, a man ran out from somewhere. He urged us to have some prasad from the temple on top of the vav. We chatted with him for a while about the town, about Jains going to Palitana.

He also quickly ran back and got us some prasad here in the car. Mucho thanks brother!

He told us, “you should see this place in Bhadrapad Amavasya. there is a big mela and everything is lit up!” Great to know that. Lovely that the shrines are being maintained and festivities are held, even if just once a year.

Hopefully, in future we continue cherishing these spaces which are so beautiful and charming. Moreover, these step-wells for me are powerful reminders of treating our water right. The current stepwell water is so murky – but nobody is dependent on it for drinking or bathing. But in early days when people depended on this water source, just see how beautifully they have created their well.

Not just a dug up well in the ground, but a place surrounded by ornate architecture, deities, sattvic ambiance and spiritual ethos. If I envision this structure in its best form – it comes out quite stunning actually. And it makes me consider the way I am keeping water in my house. Traditionally, even in our households, the matka (water pot) is kept in a sacred space with chanting and a small shrine nearby. That’s how water is kept traditionally. These stepwells are a large scale reminder of that for me.

Let’s have little stepwell-like fanfare in our home water space!