'Water bodies that do much more than just collect water'

Water is recognised as 'blue gold' in present times. It is believed that all future battles of the world will be fought over water. More than a billion people living in the present world do not have access to clean water. Everyday, more than six thousand people die because of either contaminated water, or the very lack of water.

The essential liquid, generally taken for granted in the modern world, and occasionally paid attention to in the form of rituals and the like, is dancing as dollars in the eyes of transnational corporations. In this context, the study of conservation, distribution and usage of water becomes of importance, and the lakes, vavs, wells and kunds built in the past have a lot to teach the modern technocrat and planner.

Since puranic times, it is  considered a sacred act to build a water body. The rock edict of Rudradaman at Junagadh, inscribed in 150 AD, speaks about the Sudarshan lake of Junagadh, built originally by the great Mauryan emperors. This edict, written in Sanskrit, is the oldest such edict extant in India. It notes the repairs done by Mahakshtrap Rudradaman on the Sudarshan lake.

Three hundred years after Rudradaman's inscription, the edict of Skand Gupta also speaks about the repairs conducted by the Gupta king in 455-456 AD. These edicts show how important water was, both to the people, as well as to the king who ruled them.

The more than five thousand years old Indus Valley civilisation is justly famous for its technological sophistication in preserving and using water. Since ancient times, these water bodies were important constructions undertaken by the kings for public usage. In fact, the constructions of these water bodies are also lovely examples of the architectural heritage of Gujarat.

There are hundreds of small and large such lakes and ponds in many villages and towns of Gujarat.The series of reservoirs revealing amazing systems of water harvesting of the 4,500-years old  Dholavira, the Sudarshan lake of Junagadh, the sixth century lake at Roda, the Sahstraling lake of Patan, the Munsar lake of Viramgam, the Kankaria lake of Ahmedabad and the Sinhsar lake of Jhinjuwada are a few  examples of such water bodies of Gujarat.

Hindu mythology is replete with stories about lakes and ponds and kunds. According to one such story, Lord Vishnu, with his own hands, dug the manikarnika kund of Banaras. This kund is considered so sacred that it is believed that during the afternoons, all other sacred kunds of India come here to take a holy dip. There are similar stories about the Mandakini lake of Mount Abu.

The Sahstraling lake of Patan epitomizes the building mastery of the Gujarati craftsmanship and the high taste of the Solanki kings of Gujarat who had commissioned it. If the suryakund of Modhera represents the high point of Solanki architecture of Gujarat, then the Munsar lake of Viramgam, built by the Solanki queen Minal Devi, is the largest man- made lake of Gujarat. The Munsar Lake also flaunts Solanki architecture on all its banks. This lake is constructed in the form of a gomukh (the face of the sacred cow) and competes with the Sahstraling lake of Patan in terms of architectural finesse.

There stood 520 shrines on the embankment steps of the Munsar lake once; 360 of them still stand there today. Most of these shrines are shaiv (of Lord Shiva) while others are vaishnav (of Lord Vishnu).

During the Sultanate period, water-bodies continued to be built. An unusual water structure built in the fifteenth century with a very original design is the 'retreat-well' of Mehmedabad, twenty-six kilometres south-east of Ahmedabad.

Hoz-e-Qutb is the Kankaria lake of Ahmedabad, built by the Sultans of Gujarat in 1451 AD and is located in the south-western part of the city. It is a vast, thirty-four sided polygon that covers an area of 30.8 hectare. The periphery of the lake is lined with stone steps and in the centre of the lake is Nagina Wadi, former pleasure pavilions of the rulers of Ahmedabad.   

— The city-based writer specialises in writing on architecture