Hyderabad: On Tuesday, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Hyderabad Design Forum (HDF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct research and publish a book titled ‘The Forgotten Stepwells of Telangana’.
The Hyderabad Design Forum (HDF), a group of working designers, has been entrusted with the responsibility of documenting and publishing the step wells. HDF initiated this effort voluntarily with the intention of creating a permanent and authorized reference document.
As a result of its field surveys, HDF has uncovered more than 110 wells in five significant categories with a historical range of 200 to 1,000 years in rural Telangana and the walled city of Hyderabad.
HDF is documenting these water structures using on-site surveys, photography, and oral interviews. A group of ten architects is voluntarily researching different aspects to analyze the wells’ function in the social, religious, and agricultural life of medieval Telangana.
The researchers are analyzing hydrology, geology, Vastu and Agama building codes, gender behavior, history, folklore, and iconography to gain insight into the captivating inverted architecture of the step wells.
The study’s conclusion will appear in an illustrated scientific book titled “The Forgotten Step Wells of Telangana,” which is scheduled for release in May 2023. Arvind Kumar and HDF president Yeshwant Ramamurthy signed the MoU in the presence of senior architects from the Forum.
