Regal Steps

          Arches stand like sentinels rimming the top of the square enclosure. Offering a support to grasping arms, and an all-seeing eye down the well. 

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         Hundreds of steps tier deep down to a well of water. They stretch in meticulous pattern beckoning people to travel down their depth. The scorching sun’s reach is dampened the further down one goes. A damp cold begins to wrap around the traveler, replacing their sticky hot sweat with a slight chilling relief. The end prize at the bottom is a basin of water, large and full, waiting for containers to be filled to the brim with wet. Satisfied travelers guzzle the water and let it drip down their chins in a carefree contentment. Then perhaps they dip their containers in to capture the liquid to carry to the top.

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         Connected to the stepwell is a temple. The whole area used to draw people into gatherings. The steps offered a proud seat with a sweet perspective, along with a cool relief from the hotter air above. Perched among the ups and downs tiering down to the water, people can taste the feeling of a bird’s perspective, or crouch like a great cat prowling and scoping out its prey. They can feel the slight thrill of being up high and realizing that they are actually kind of in a pit, and experience the mind turning over the ideas presented by this seeming impossibility. 

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         This location of crafted steps is an aged stepwell, Chand Baori, located in India. The stone is carved in an almost regal way. It beckons people to sit on its steps and admire its art - to climb up and down, around its walls, rubbing hands over the breathing stone as if to feel the very walls take a deep breath of life from brushing fingertips. The stone fits together like puzzle pieces, some large some small, all snuggled together to create a masterpiece of symmetry and precision. 

         Shadows cut edges with the stone, creating a contrasting staccato; adding depth and layer with an illusion of endlessness. They stretch on and on; clean, and precise, contributing a thin variance.

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         Today the well still captures water in the dry climate, but it no longer offers it up to quench the thirst of those who brave its steps. It has grown green and murky in a disconcerting way which testifies of its current disuse. Perhaps another source of water was found - more easily accessed - a thief exploiting laziness and appealing to the urgency of time and convenience; and turned the water green with envy; a spiteful aura sliding into its depths, poisoning the tranquility it once offered so openly. 

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         One cannot help but remain somewhat drawn to the intriguing place though. It still echoes of the glorified past it once had, where it thrived with life; capturing water to satisfy thirst and give life to others. Its heydays are over, but the ghost of them will continue to haunt all who happen across the cut stone. Its voice whispers through the air a promise of its past; when it stood regal; a royal ruler who gave as long as it kept receiving. 

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Resources:

"20 Places You Can't Believe Really Exist." Alot Travel. 22 May 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://travel.alot.com/themes/20-places-you-cant-believe-really-exist--6572?s=14>.

"Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan, India." Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan, India. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/10/chand-baori-step-well-in-rajasthan-india.html>.