Underground Shrine Queens Stepwell Patan

Author(s): Jaikishandas Sadani
Publisher: B J Institute of Learning & Research

Page 16

Underground Shrine
the ever surging desires by disciplined ethics and moral values, leading to emancipation or liberation from their tangling webs of attachment and delusion, into a sense of freedom or Moksa, thus fulfilling the purpose of our earthly existence, the summum bonum of life. All these are amply expressed in the sculptures on the panels, niches and plates of the step-well.
The Indian pantheon of the Divine Trinity, Brahmā, Visņu and Mahesa, the several incarnations of Visņu, the long range of gods and goddesses, and the whole panorama of life both celestial and terrestrial are sculpted with exquisite charm and beauty. This makes Queen Udayamati's Step-well a supreme Temple, not built on the ground level, but underground. Such is its serene spiritual grace that as we behold it we are transported to a land of ecstasy and bliss. It is ind jewel "Mukuta-Mani” of the architecture and sculpture of Gujarat.