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Kakatiya · https://kakatiya.info/sites/shivanagar-stepwell

Shivanagar Stepwell

A square stepwell of three storeys at Shivanagar in Warangal, known locally as Anthasthula Bavi. Newspaper reports place it in the Kakatiya period, but no evidence for its date has been found so far. It was cleared and restored in 2025.

Period
Newspaper reports place it in the Kakatiya period. No inscription or survey records its date
Location
17.9689° N, 79.5997° EWarning: approximate

Source of the position: Google Maps place "Anthastula Baavi", pointed out by the author

Condition
Restored in 2025 and open to the public.
Inside a deep square stepwell: rows of stone pillars carry galleries on several levels, and stone steps lead down to water at the bottom.

Photographed 2016

The galleries of the stepwell, photographed in 2016, before the restoration. Rows of pillars carry the levels, and steps lead down to the water.

Photo: Torchtelangana, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

A wide view of a square stepwell filled with green water to the level of its upper pillars, with brick houses and trees around it.

Photographed 2023

The stepwell in 2023, before the restoration, filled with water up to its upper galleries, among the houses of Shivanagar.

Photo: Torchtelangana, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Detail

  • The Hans India gives the names of the stepwell as Metla Bavi and, locally, Anthasthulu Bavi. The report describes a square, multi-storeyed well of about 12 by 12 metres.The Hans India 2023
  • The Deccan Chronicle of 2017 also records the names Digudu Bavi and Eetha Kolanu, and describes three storeys. The Deccan Chronicle of 2025 gives the size as 14 metres on each side.Deccan Chronicle 2017Deccan Chronicle 2025
  • The historian Hari Sanath Kumar points to the way the number of pillars at each level decreases from the top to the bottom. He also notes that each layer rests on its pillars with iron rings.Deccan Chronicle 2017
  • All three reports place the stepwell in the Kakatiya period, and the 2025 report calls it 800 years old. None of the reports gives evidence for the date, and no inscription or published survey records the well.Deccan Chronicle 2017The Hans India 2023Deccan Chronicle 2025
  • According to the 2025 report, the three levels served for bathing, for changing clothes and for religious rituals. The report does not give a source for this.Deccan Chronicle 2025
  • Local tradition holds that Rudrama Devi bathed in the well. In the reports of 2017 and 2023 a secret route or tunnel leads to Warangal Fort. In the report of 2025 the tunnel leads to the Thousand Pillar Temple. No survey or excavation has recorded such a tunnel so far.Deccan Chronicle 2017The Hans India 2023Deccan Chronicle 2025
  • The well holds water throughout the year, and local people say that it has never dried up.Deccan Chronicle 2017The Hans India 2023
  • In 2017 the well was neglected and used as a dump, and treasure hunters had damaged part of it. The historian Aravind Arya Pakide brought it to the notice of the district collector in that year.Deccan Chronicle 2017The Hans India 2023
  • In 2023 the stepwell was not a protected monument of the Archaeological Survey of India. The district administration planned to restore it, beginning with the removal of silt.The Hans India 2023
  • In 2025 the endowments minister Konda Surekha sanctioned 50 lakh rupees for the restoration. The workers cleared the garbage and debris and stabilised the sunken pillars. Stone slabs, railings and lights were added, and the well was opened to the public.Deccan Chronicle 2025

Also recorded as

  • Anthasthula Bavi
  • Anthasthulu Bavi
  • Anthastula Baavi
  • Metla Bavi
  • Digudu Bavi
  • Eetha Kolanu
  • Rudrama Devi stepwell

Sources