Patan, 22 October 2013

Gujarat’s 11th century marvel, Patan based world famous Ranki Vav (Queen’s stepwell or Rani ki Vav) is on the verge of vying for the coveted Unesco’s World Heritage Site status.

Accompanied by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and National Monument Authority (NMA) teams, the representatives of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) were on visit to Ranki Vav on Tuesday for final inspection of the stepwell. The team was led by professor Zhang Jie of Tsinghua university, China. ICOMOS India member Shikha Jain, ASI officials Satyabhama Badrinath, KC Nauriyal, Director, World Heritage section Smt Subramaniam, Director Archaeology Satyabhama, Director Gandhinagar Jhanvi Sharma, Superintendent of Archaeology Vadodara B.Shivananda among others were also present.

Collector JB Vora, Prant officer Bharatbhai Joshi and others welcomed the team at the stepwell site.

UNESCO team observed the stepwell for two hours in light of a dossier prepared by the ASI team. The members of the team took photographs and captured videos. The team visited Ranki Vav and Sahastraling talav both. They will pay visit to Sahastraling talav again on Wednesday.

Patan Heritage Society had organized a photo exhibition at step well site on this occasion. Society member Dr. C.D.Modi and others will interact with UNESCO team on Wednesday. A meeting of UNESCO team with district officials is also scheduled on Wednesday.

If the ICOMOS team approves Ranki Vav as a World Heritage Site, the stepwell will be the second monument to get acquire the privileged status in Gujarat after Champaner and Pavagadh. The monument got listed in Unesco’s tentative list in 1998.

The NMA-ASI team paid visit to Ranki Vav last month and decided to list nearby monuments and Sahastralinga lake near the stepwell for the Unesco nomination. A conservation plan for Ranki Vav and a 100 metre buffer zone around the monument is also ready.

Ranki Vav was Constructed by Queen Udayamati (1022-1063), widow of Bhimdev and mother of Siddharaj Jayasimh.