BIRKHA BAWARI
BIRKHA BAWARI
![Bawari Edit](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b266c4_59d13d1c93b74da390598ef6307f98e1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_118,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/b266c4_59d13d1c93b74da390598ef6307f98e1~mv2.jpg)
![Birkha Bawari (3)](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b266c4_2ee46f086cd24ea7a27a3da6ff53de63~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_92,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/b266c4_2ee46f086cd24ea7a27a3da6ff53de63~mv2.jpg)
![Birkha Bawari (11)](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b266c4_b251f3e959c9465c9b2c7e16f96ee9c0~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_92,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/b266c4_b251f3e959c9465c9b2c7e16f96ee9c0~mv2.jpg)
![Bawari Edit](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b266c4_59d13d1c93b74da390598ef6307f98e1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_118,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/b266c4_59d13d1c93b74da390598ef6307f98e1~mv2.jpg)
Step-wells, subterranean aqua-structures, (Bawari or Vav in local dialect) were an integral part of communities until the end of 19th century India. Relegated in favour of canal and piped water-supply, these exquisite step-wells were gradually abandoned and forgotten.
However, after a hiatus of over a century, as ecological and sustainability issues took centre-stage amidst growing concern over deepening water-crisis, it became vital that ancient wisdom of harnessing water be re-visited.
Birkha Bawari, a 21st-century step-well to conserve over 17.5 million litres of rain-water was conceived and built in Umaid Heritage Housing Township in Jodhpur. A unique structural system that owes no parallel was built out of site-quarried overburden of stone, without the aid of RCC, to harvest a renewable source without expending non-renewable energies.