CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

The Indian Baroque architecture style emerged in wake of colonial presence in the subcontinent, due to interactions between Neo-Roman style European architecture and Indian styles. The study and documentation of Baroque Architecture of India was undertaken by Professor Jose Pereira during 1967-1969 for the American Academy of Benares, now the Center for Art and Archaeology of American Institute of Indian Studies. He visited areas in India where the Neo-Roman monuments are found accompanied by the Academy’s photographer Dharampal Nanda. The project covered Neo-Roman or Baroque Architecture of Goa, Daman, Diu, Kerala, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu. The photographs are preserved in Photo-archives of the Center for Art and Archaeology, Gurgaon.

Baroque Architecture, Kerala, India

Baroque Architecture, Maharashtra, India

Baroque Architecture, Pondicherry, India

Baroque Architecture, Tamil Nadu, India

The patron of this stepwell was Bahadur Singh Bharot, a landowner whose property included the area around the queen’s stepwell. According to an inscription, he began the well in 1805 and was completed by his son in 1811 by his son. Columns were appropriated from Rani ki Vav, Patan and lengthened as necessary. The three domes atop the final pavilion are probably original.

 

Lautman, Victoria, The Vanishing Stepwells of India, 2017, 204