HYDERABAD: “The forgotten stepwells of Telangana’’, a first-time pioneering documentation, sponsored by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) will be released soon. The documentary is prepared by Hyderabad Design Forum (HDF) and edited by Yeshwant Ramamurthy.
The book is a pioneering historical documentation of the hitherto unknown vertical of Telangana’s fascinating inverted water architecture. For the first time, step wells is southern India have been studied by a group of architects who have researched for seven years and authored a multi-disciplinary study of these vital sources of subterranean water. As many as 12 authors locate their essays in architectural methodology and include social, historical, ritual and religious-philosophical levels of understanding.
The book elucidates text with measured drawings, sketches and over 40 photographs.social life, daily rituals, intangible cultural practices and aesthetic perception interconnect agrarian functions with the spatial topographies of stepwells.
Recognising the potential of historical study, HMDA has extended a substantial research grant to power the publication of this meticulously designed narration of its water heritage. Earlier, this year a MoU was signed between the HMDA and the HDF for the same.