About

From Mahanavami Dibba, we walked towards the stepped tank which is in the same enclosure. This stepped tank was excavated in the 1980s and is one of the beautiful water tanks. Stepped tank built in the 15th century is a beautiful ornate tank in the royal enclosure, Hampi, Karnataka. The tank is totally different from other structures of Hampi as the Stepped Tank is constructed using finely finished blocks of black schist stones. All the steps or stones bears some sketches and marks made by the architects. The main purpose of this tank is not known for sure but was used for religious ceremonies by the royals. These tanks were used for rituals, cleansing and during rites of concretion. The water tanks are considered sacred from the Ganges and even used for immersing of Ganesha idols. Usually, these tanks are made near the temples and used to accommodate bathing, cleansing activities before prayers. The tank is around 22 square meter in area and 7 meters in depth. There are 5 tiers, each comprising a few steps which are symmetrically laid. The area is smaller at the bottom of the tank. The water for the tank is sourced from river Tungabhadra through stone ducts engineered those days.

The stepped tank looks like early work prefabrication at one place and then assembled at the destination. The tank is totally different from other structures of Hampi as the Stepped Tank is constructed using finely finished blocks of black schist stones. All the steps or stones bears some sketches and marks made by the architects. The main purpose of this tank is not known for sure but was used for religious ceremonies by the royals. These tanks were used for rituals, cleansing and during rites of concretion. The water tanks are considered sacred from the Ganges and even used for immersing of Ganesha idols. Usually, these tanks are made near the temples and used to accommodate bathing, cleansing activities before prayers. The chain of aqueducts that are used to bring water from Kamalapura Tank that was probably used to fill the wells in the enclosure is evident from the remains. Two most important bathing pavilions of the Royal Center are the Queen's bath and the Octagonal Bath are the next architectural structures of Hampi to its credits. Although Hampi was conquered by the Muslim rulers and defeated to ruins.

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