Borsad Stepwell

Last updated March 16, 2019

The ancient stepwell is located in Borsad town in Anand district, Gujarat, India. It was built in 1497 by Vasu Soma and his family. It is seven story stepwell and has 13 arches. The water is reached by flight of steps.^[1] It is Monument of National Importance (N-GJ-69) protected by Archeological Survey of India.

Borsad is a city and a municipality in Anand district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is located around 17 km from Anand. It is surrounded by the fertile Charotar region which largely produces tobacco, bananas, cotton, barley and other agricultural crops. Borsad was the seat of the Borsad satyagraha in 1922-23.

Anand District is an administrative district of Gujarat state in western India and is popularly known as Charotar. It was carved out of the Kheda district in 1997. Anand is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is bounded by Kheda District to the north, Vadodara District to the east, Ahmedabad District to the west, and the Gulf of Khambhat to the south. Major towns are Khambhat, Karamsad, Tarapur, Petlad and Sojitra.

Gujarat is a state in Western India and Northwest India, a coastline of 1,600 km (990 mi) – most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula – and a population in excess of 60 million. It is the sixth largest Indian state by area and the ninth largest state by population. Gujarat is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Daman and Diu to the south, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. The Gujarati-speaking people of India are indigenous to the state. The economy of Gujarat is the third-largest state economy in India with ₹14.96 lakh crore (US$210 billion) in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹157,000 (US$2,200).

Inscription

There is an inscription in Sanskrit in the stepwell. It has date of Samvat 1553 dated Shraavana Vad 13th.^[1]

Śrāvaṇa is the fifth month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Śrāvaṇa is the fifth month of the Hindu year, beginning in late July from the first day of the full moon and ending in the third week of August, the day of the next full moon. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as Āvani and is the fifth month of the solar year. In lunar religious calendars, Śrāvaṇa begins on the new moon and is the fourth month of the year. Srabon is the fourth month of the Bengali calendar. This is also the 2nd month of Varsha (rainy) season.

In the Samvat Year 1553 on the 13th day of dark half of Shravana month, the day of week Sunday, on this day here, Vasasoma, the resident of Stambhatirtha, Lalata by race, his son Vasa Khet, his son Vasa Parbat, his son Vasa Shripal.
His son Vasa Soma, his son Vasah Dharamshi, his son Vasa Narasyanga, his son vasa Shrirang, his brothers Roop and Shripal.
Vasa Soma, his son Vasa Manik, his son Vasa Vika, his son Vasa Sagar, his son Vasa Saira. Architect Varade. Ga. Narbad.

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References

1 2 James Burgess (1885). Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Bombay Presidency: With an Appendix of Inscriptions from Gujarat. Government Central Press. pp. 133, 266.

Coordinates: 22°24′40″N72°54′02″E / 22.4111°N 72.9005°E / 22.4111; 72.9005

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[Burgess1885-1] 1 2 James Burgess (1885). Lists of the Antiquarian Remains in the Bombay Presidency: With an Appendix of Inscriptions from Gujarat. Government Central Press. pp. 133, 266.