The ancient and most beautiful Stepwell of Bansilalpet!

AN EXHAUSTIVE STEPWELL VIDEO:

We visited the recently renovated Stepwell of Bansilalpet on 21st March 2023. The renovation has turned it into a beautiful tourist spot in Secunderabad city. Ever since its inauguration on 5th December 2022, it is attracting not just our city dwellers but many visitors from outside. The attached photographs and the video will surely give you an impression of its beauty. 

This six-layer Stepwell was built in the 17th century and bears the footprints of the Kakatiya dynasty as well as traces of the Nizam and the British Empire. It could hold nearly 22 lakh litres of water. 

It has been lying neglected for decades and was left in disrepair. And since 1980, there was no more trace of water in it as it had become a dumping place for garbage. Gradually it got filled with 2,000 tonnes of debris.

The Rainwater Project, which has revitalised several Stepwells throughout the City and the State, collaborated with urban planners and architects to conceptualise and execute the Stepwell and the precinct development. The Stepwell restoration cost Rupees 2.6 crores, this included cleaning, dewatering, and de-silting the well, as well as structural strengthening of retaining walls, rebuilding, and finishing works.

The Stepwell now has an annual rainwater harvesting capacity of up to 35 lakh litres. The rejuvenated Stepwell has an interpretation centre, a tourism plaza, an amphitheatre, and a café.

A plaque at the Stepwell reads as follows:     

NAGANNA KUNTA

BANSILALPET STEPWELL

Naganna Kunta, a 6 levelled stepwell in Bansilalpet, is part of an important historic layer displaying the development of water-centric human settlements of Telangana.

Reflecting the similarity in plan with the Wells of the Kakatiyan period, the freshwater stepwell can be dated around the 17-18th century. The 1854 Pharaoh map categorises Naganna Kunta as a Well with a garden of Tamarind and Palmyra trees planted around it. During the British administration’s work in Secunderabad, the brick boundary wall with arches was built around the Well periphery. In 1933, the British Resident T.H. Keyes developed a well-planned model village around the stepwell, funded by Seth Bansilal.

The restoration of Naganna Kunta and the precinct around the stepwell is an initiative to reclaim the traditional knowledge of water systems and foster water sustainability.

The restoration was undertaken in 2021-2022.