In the quiet neighborhood of Asarwa village, northeast of the walled, tucked away between a sleepy residential area and the coal yards of Ahmedabad on a little side street, you will find Dada Harir Vav. At ground level you may not see much, but as you step up to the top of the stairs, you suddenly see a deep cascade of stairs and columns plunging down several stories, with shafts of light falling on beautiful carvings and birds and bats flitting in and out of the shadowy corners.

Built around 500 years ago by Sultan Bai Harir, this stepwell is like others around Gujarat, with elaborate craftsmanship and construction built underground to provide access to a permanent source of water. For many years stepwells like this one provided most of the water for the city during the long dry seasons. On the walls as you descend, you will find carvings of all type, including some in Sanskrit as well as in Arabic script.

Persian and Sanskrit inscriptions on the walls tell the legend of the monument. It is said that Dhai Harir (also known as Bai Harir Sultani), a household lady of Mahmud Begada, commissioned this stepwell. She built a mosque alongside and a small tomb, in which she was buried.