STEPWELL JEJURI
AT
BALLALESHWARA
SHRI
TEMPLE
JEJURI
A town in Maharasthra, India is known for a temple dedicated to the avatar of Lord Shiva, Khandoba. Jejuri is known for a celebration on every Somavati Amavasya (a new moon that comes on a monday), where all the devotees gather and smear turmeric everywhere, singing and dancing, thereby energizing the whole environment in the temple.
a. Image showing devotees celebrating in the templeofJejuri a.
a. The topography of this region consists of a gently sloping land surrounded on the two sides with a hill range. At the end of of this range is the celebrated diety Khandoba’stemple and fort.
b. One feels that, to occupy a defensive position for the fort on a hilly region, the water runoff is high and needs to be contained for the kingdom to thrive.
Panaromicviewofthelakeandhillstakenfromthedamwall.
c. The strategy of building a dam wall might have helped to collect the water. While constructing this talav is when the locals found the shrine‘Shivalinga’ which lead to the making of ShriBallaleshwaratemple.
d. The temple is aligned along East-West axis with steps leading to the shrine, located underground along the dam wall.
One tries to imagine, whether the temple folklore was a later event nated place where the people gathered to meet the collected water connection of a celebration place between water and people.
in history and the step well was built before, as a threshold, a desigwater from the ‘Talaav’ . Like the other stepwells, it has the philosophical
Schematicsectionshowingthejunctionof lake,damwall,templeshrineandwell.
Sketchshowingthetopview along with the three level promenade, acharacteristic featureofthiswell.
As one arrives at the entrance, one is welcomed with a ‘TulsiVrindavan’and the column bases of supposed to be ‘Nandi Mandapa’ . The two staircases flanged on either sides of the entrance takes to the upper level promenade which merges with the dam wall.
These two masses streamline our vision to the sky, trees and the inner face of the dam wall.
As we proceed to enter between the two masses of staircase, one experiences three planes or levels. The top most plane aligning with the sky, the second with the horizon and the third with the temple below. We see two more staircases that connect middle promenade to upper promenade at the opposite end of the well. `
Sectionthroughthewidthofthestepwell.
Imageshowingthethreepromenadesfromthehighestpromenade.
As one traverses from upper level to the lower level, one experiences the sound of water trickling in an absolute silence created by the stone enclosure. This meditative atmosphere calms us till we reach the shrine where we try to be one with the God. a. b.
a. Image showing the entrance steps and moat, taken from the middle promenade. b. Image showing the entrance steps to lowest promenade.
One notices that there is no ‘Shikhara’ over the shrine and people can walk on the upper level of the shrine as well, which is an exception as per ‘Vastu Shastra’ which leads to the thinking whether this step well was made as a source of water first and temple later or as the story that has spread through generations.
Sectionthroughthelengthofthestepwell.
Imageshowingthemoat,takenfromthehighestpromenade.
One tries to imagine the traditional life with the present day stainless steel railing and colourful oil paints rendered under the tag of safety and durability.
Will we be able to understand the abstract concepts of the power of one material ‘Stone’ as our own ancestors did?
