Agrasen ki Baoli Agrasen ki Baoli (also known as Agar Sain ki Baoli or Ugrasen ki Baoli), designated a protected monument by the

Archeological Survey of India(ASI) under the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958, is a 60-meter long and 15-meter wide historical step wellon Hailey Road near Connaught Place, a short walk from Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India.[1] Although there are no known historical records to prove who built Agrasen ki Baoli, it is believed that it was originally built by the legendary king Agrasen[2] during the Mahabharat epic era[3][4][5] and rebuilt in the 14th century by the Agrawal community which traces its origin to Maharaja Agrasen. Baoli or bawdi, also referred to as baori or bauri, is a Hindi word (from Sanskrit wapi [6][7] or vapi, vapika).[8][9] In Rajasthan and Gujarat the words for step well include baoli, bavadi, vav, vavdi and vavadi.[10] Water temples[11] and temple step wells were built in ancient India and the earliest forms of step well and reservoir were also built in India in places like Dholavira as far back as the Indus Valley Civilisation. Conservation steps should be taken

new delhi: this is one garbage heap one will not mind seeing right at the entrance of a protected monument. for the dirt is being removed from one of the finest stepwells in the capital - agrasen ki baoli on hailey road. the archaeological survey of india is finally desilting the place and there are several more mounds of dirt waiting to be removed before they can get to the bottom of the stepwell. ''stagnant water is being pumped out and the accumulated dirt being cleaned. we have already cleared a few steps and are expecting to hit a landing soon,'' an asi official said. an asi guard overseeing the site said: ''the work has been on for about a month and we are yet to clean another 20 feet.'' once the desilting is complete, restoration work, if required on the submerged portion of the well, will begin. constructed in the pre-lodhi period by raja agrasen, the asi-protected stepwell is about 60-metre long and 15-metre wide. conserving ancient water bodies is not only important from the cultural point of view, it also serves a very important contemporary purpose. ''delhi's groundwater level is falling at a rapid pace and there are few open places for recharging the subsoil water level. the surviving reservoirs, tanks and baolis must be restored and can even be used to replenish groundwater level,'' an asi official said. b m pandey, a former asi director who has done research on traditional water harvesting systems in india, agrees. ''hundreds of years ago people were aware that water should not be allowed to flow away and should be stored. today, however, we are exhausting the limited water resources without giving a thought to recharging them,'' he said. despite their importance, the condition of ancient water bodies in the capital is a picture of neglect. many of them are lying in a dilapidated and neglected state. an example is the series of 15 ancient checkdams that were discovered about seven

months back. the team which discovered them, comprising a greater kailash-based architect, danny cherian, had to fight to save them.