Baoli at Mukundpura village near Narnaul

Chhatris on the roof of  Baoli

This baoli (Stepwell) is situated in village Mukundpura near Narnaul City.It is believed to be at least 3-4 centuries old. 

Three levels of the Baoli

This baoli can be easily located through its four small Chhatris (dome shaped pavilions) on its rooftop.It has three stories and two of which are below the ground level. There are long and narrow corridors on  three sides of first and second levels.Remaining side is having stairs,leading all the way down to a small tank on the third level.

Baoli from inside

This small tank is connected to a well situated on the other side of the baoli through a small opening.

Lower level is connected to the well on the other side

well is connected to the tank through a small opening

This baoli is comparatively in much better condition than majority of its counterparts situated at various corners of the city. Let's just hope that it continues to remain so. 

I am thankful of my friend Kamesh for accompanying me there.

About this Baoli:- This Baoli is located at one end of the village. You can ask anyone in the village for directions.

About the village:- This village is situated at 7-8 Km from Narnaul City.There are several routes of reaching here. One such route is a small road on right side (through village Tehla) on Narnaul-Nangal Chaudhary road. It is second or third village on this route.

About Narnaul:- Narnaul city is part of district Mohindergarh and is situated at a distance of 150 Km from Delhi and Jaipur and at around 50 Km from Rewari city.

Co-ordinates of the Monument:- 27°59’12.31” N  76°04’42.88” E

Another old baoli (bawdi) at Naranul.

I don’t know whether we actually know the history of our cities or we just pretend about knowing it.  I feel great, whenever I come across a well preserved monument and my happiness increases when i find it having an introduction (however brief it may be) near its entrance and I begin to think that we indeed, do know something about our history.

On the other hand, I have seen several equally remarkable monuments which seem to have so much information about the past but they are in a completely neglected state. Instead of having a much deserved introductory board, they don’t even have the trespassers warning sign board. The situation becomes even more ugly when you visit the building and see it covered with the writings from 17^th century and when you try to search this building on official websites and in local books, you end up finding absolutely nothing about it.

This forces me to believe that we actually know very less about our local history and adding to that, we are deliberately trying to ignore and destroying much more. One such monument is situated on the outskirts of city of Naranul, inside the premises of its famous Baba Kheta Nath Government Polytechnic College.

There are actually two monuments inside this college. One is an unknown tomb (near its water tank).

Unknown old monument inside college

Other one is a Bawdi(Baoli) situated at the centre.

Entry of the Bawdi(Baoli)

Bawdi from inside

This three story monument is actually a step-well, with one floor at sub-ground level. There are stairs at one side that goes all the way to the bottom of it and are perhaps separated by a wall from a well on its other end.

The most remarkable thing about this monument are the writings on its walls, seems to have been written by people who had perhaps stayed here, during their journeys. These writings go back all the way from 21^st century to 17^th century. They are in Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Old broken Hindi (?) and even in English.

Writing on the wall

Another wall writing

Another writing in Urdu  Persian 

(as pointed out in comments section by Tarun Pant ji )

Thanks to dirt, webs and ignorance of our restoration departments (which perhaps would have plastered over these walls, without even bothering to chronicle these writings before doing so), these writings are still visible today. I have taken photographs of as many as I could find there and some of them I am posting here.

At least the oldest year mentioned in these would help us with a probable time of the construction of this building and also we would be able to find out, what kind of people used to visit the city and from where and with what purpose. So, in my opinion these writings are an important source of our history and deserve to be studied carefully.

About Narnaul :- Naranul city is a part of Mohindergarh district. It is situated at a distance of 28 Km from Mohindergarh, 50 Km from Rewari and 150 Kms from Delhi and Jaipur.

About the Monument :- Both these monuments are situated inside the premises of BKN Govt. Polytechnic College which is situated on the outskirts of Naranul. It's better to take Narnaul- Nizampur road for reaching there. You have to take a link road on the left side after around 1-2 Km from Naranul, which would again be taking you back towards the city. You can ask anybody there about this college.

Co-ordinates of the monument :- 28°02’08.30” N and 76°06’01.40” E (for bawdi) and 

                                                  28°02’12.00” N and 76°06’05.33” E (for the unknown monument) 

Thakhte wali baoli (bawdi), Narnaul (Mohindergarh, Haryana)

Narnaul, perhaps is the only place in Haryana where you can find more monuments, built during Islamic period than anywhere else. Many of them like Jal Mahal, Tomb of Ibrahim Shah Suri, Chor Gumbaj are in very good condition but remaining others are not so lucky. These include a 13th century Dargah (Peer Turkman Dargah), 17th Century Serai (Old Court), 17th century haveli of Rai Bal Mukund, 15th Century Bawdi (Thakhte wali Bawdi) and many more. Some of these were intentionally demolished for modernization while others are crumbling under sheer negligence and encroachment. One such unlucky monument is a beautiful Bwadi known as Thakhte wali Bawdi.

A Bawdi is more like a stepwell surrounded by rooms and resting place. In modern terms its like a hotel with swimming pool in it (I may be wrong here but this is the closest modern analogy i could think of).

This Bawdi is a 5 story building with 2 below the ground level. Each floor is having long corridors on 3 sides and stairs on one side. There is an inscription on the top floor which says that it was built by some Mirza Ali Jaan. Some believes that the present building was built upon the remains of a much older building.  

Here are some of the photographs of this Bawdi-

Tank in front of Bawdi

Closer look at the Bawdi

(Inscription is on red tiles of the top floor)

Ground and sub ground floors of the Bawdi  

Sub ground floor with corridors on 3 sides

Another look at sub ground levels

View from backside

(All these photographs were taken by me while visiting this monument on 29th April 2012)

About Narnaul:- Narnaul is the district headquarter of Mohindergarh District of State Haryana. It is situated at 50 KMs from Rewari, 150 KMs from Delhi and Jaipur. 

About Monument:- This monument is located near Chotta-Bada Talab (Narnaul) just 100 meters off Narnaul-Nizampur Road.

Co-ordinates of the Monument : - 28°02’48.42” N and 76°05’56.52” E