India's Stepwells

Have you heard of the stepwells? I must confess on my visit to India about 5 years ago I didn't have a clue. We traveled all around this enchanting country taking in forts, palaces and peoples and I knew nothing of what was going on underground. 

Chicago journalist Victoria Lautman has spent four years photographing these forgotten structures, 120 sites in total, to help raise awareness. These intricate and beautiful feats of engineering are crumbling and decaying with neglect. Once essential to hold the country's water, now some are being used as rubbish dumps, filled with soil or just abandoned. 

The architecture is fascinating, spirals of stairs going down and down, all the detail and design show how important water was regarded. Now India is considering re-opening some of these wells to help prevent shortages. 

I find these sites quite amazing, from the 2nd to the 4th centuries A.D. the rich poured the money literally into the ground to house the precious resource of water. It is the detail that is captivating, your eye pulling you down. You can read more at My Modern Met.