Delhi Archives – Agrasen ki Baoli, Connaught Place

Delhi Archives – Agrasen ki Baoli, Connaught Place

[Digging out old stories from The Delhi Walla]

Amid the business towers and residential apartments of the Colonial-era Connaught Place, this 14th century baoli or ancient step-well, is flanked on both sides by niches, chambers and passageways, and the 104 stone steps descending into the well’s dried-up base, have three levels.

It is not certain who built it, though some credit it to a king called Agrasen; hence the name.

As you enter, you will see a mosque on one side. Initially, you will hear the cooing of hundreds of pigeons. But as you walk down the stairs, the silence deepens, the city skyline disappears and the daylight fades away.

Click here to read the rest of this article originally published on The Delhi Walla in December 2009.