15 Established 1961

What’s On Tuesday, November 26, 2019

— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat Palestinian Cultural Heritage Expo kicks off at Kuwait Women’s Association

By Ben Garcia happy to inaugurate the Palestinian Cultural also set to close the event scheduled on it sends us a very good signal from Kuwait Head Siham Abu Ghazalih said their expo is Heritage Expo as they celebrate the silver Thursday at 6 pm. that we are still their high priority.” not merely to sell and get more support for he four-day Palestinian Cultural jubilee this year. With regards to their bilateral relations, In fact, they indicated to hire more the Palestinian causes but they focus on pre- Heritage Expo kicked off yesterday at “Today we are celebrating the silver Tahboub described it as being outstanding. Palestinian teachers to work in government serving the cultural heritage of Palestine in TKuwait Women’s Association in jubilee of Palestinian Cultural Heritage Expo “Our relation with Kuwait is really outstand- schools in the coming years. Right now we the face of incessant threats. “This exhibition Khaldiya. The expo which displays cultural in Kuwait. The expo has symbolic touches of ing on all levels particularly in all the areas of have more than 500 Palestinian teachers. aims at preserving the identity of Palestinian heritage and products is one way of its Palestinian heritage and it reflects the cooperation. I particularly laud Kuwait for Historically our hardworking and trustworthy people and our culture, so that our future relentless effort to preserve their cultural Palestinians and Kuwaiti relations which sup- their great attitude towards the Palestinian teachers have been here since 1936 when generations will get an opportunity to wit- identity in the face of daily threats. Rami ported the exhibition for many years,” he people, for being supportive and apprecia- teachers were hired to establish its school ness it by themselves. We are touring the Tahboub inaugurated the event along with said. The expo will last until Thursday and it’s tive in all our causes,” he said. “Our relations system. We are honored to have this as our world to showcase our heritage, buying our the head of and members of diplomatic open to public from morning till evening. have taken shape significantly for the better invaluable contribution to Kuwait and its products is the way it will be preserved and corps. Speaking with the Kuwait Times after They can purchase art products, books, day after day; just recently Kuwait appointed people,” he added. treasured for generations to come in this touring the expo venue, Tahboub said he is embroideries and food. A cultural show is a non-resident ambassador to Palestine and Jordan based Palestinian Cultural Center world,” she said.

very great civilization has contributed something arranged in an intricate criss-cross pattern that recalls 4. Adalaj Vav, Adalaj, special to the pantheon of world architecture. the facets of a cut diamond - albeit one that’s 13-storeys While it can’t compete with the scale of Rani-ki-Vav, EEgypt gave the world pyramids, Greece provided deep and 35m across from side to side. the 15th-century at Adalaj in central Gujarat is Corinthian columns, and provided the stepwell, There’s a hint of M C Escher about the latticework of a masterpiece of the stonemason’s art - a jewel-box of elevating the humble act of collecting water into an interlinked stairways, giving the baori a sense of impos- column-propped arcades surrounding a central, octago- extravagant piece of public theatre. sible geometry. The lower tiers were constructed by the nal well shaft, covered in a filigree tracery of carved Known variously as baoris, baolis and vav, Hindu king Raja Chanda in the 9th century, but the flowers, elephants, deities and ornamental motifs. were designed to fill and empty with the changing sea- Mughals embellished the upper levels with pavilions and Although the carvings swim with Hindu symbolism, the sons, allowing access to the water via a series of cas- arcades in the 18th century, making the monument look well was actually constructed by a Gujarati sultan, cading terraces, no matter how high or low the water more Islamic than Hindu. If it looks a little familiar, the Mahmud Begada, over foundations excavated by a van- level. Reflecting the importance of water in monsoon- stepwell had a cameo in the 2012 Batman flick The Dark quished Hindu rival, reputedly to court the attentions of dependent India, most stepwells were lavishly orna- Knight Rises. the defeated king’s widow. According to legend, the sul- mented and decked out with niches and pavilions tan was so pleased with the stepwell that he put the where people could swim, bathe, perform religious rit- masons who built it to death to stop them duplicating uals, and enjoy the natural cooling effect of a stored their masterpiece. body of water. 3. , Delhi Today, stepwells - whether abandoned or in use - can be found scattered across India, with the highest This oft-missed Delhi landmark opens up unexpect- concentration in the north of the country, often far edly in the middle of a New Delhi street, just minutes from the mainstream tourist trail. Here’s our pick of from the mercantile chaos of Connaught Place. The seven of the most spectacular, with details on how to stepwell cuts a 60m-long slice through the earth below visit them yourself. the Indian capital, faced with niches set under Islamic arches, accessed via a single sweeping stairway. The structure seen today was most likely constructed during the Tughlaq period in the 14th century, when Delhi was ruled by a dynasty of Turkic sultans. It’s said to be haunted - usually by the same people who warn of jinns (Islamic spirits) stalking the ruins of Tughlaqabad and Feroz Shah Kotla. Today, the baoli is a favoured selfie spot thanks to a starring role in the 2015 Aamir Khan 2. Rani-ki-Vav, Patan, Gujarat blockbuster PK. The grand-daddy of Indian stepwells, Rani-ki-Vav is one of the few surviving relics from the once-powerful Chaulukya kingdom, which ruled large areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan in the 11th century. Dropping vertiginous- 5. The Pushkarinis of , Karnataka ly into the ground in a series of carving-covered tiers, Stepwells are primarily a north Indian tradition, but this monumental stepwell was constructed on the orders the Vijayanagar ruins at Hampi are dotted with ceremo- of Udayamati, wife of the Chaulukya king Bhimdev I. nial tanks, or pushkarinis, that are built in the stepwell The remarkable state of preservation of Rani-ki- style. Within the royal enclosure, the so-called Stepped Vav is actually the result of a natural disaster - the Tank is a classic Indian stepwell, long since stripped of monument was filled with silt in the 13th century and its upper pavilions, but with its eye-catching cascade of 1. Chand Baori, Abhaneri, Rajasthan only re-exposed in the 1940s. Today, the stepwell is pyramid-shaped stairways still intact. Along with nearby Perhaps the most striking of all India’s stepwells, Unesco-listed, both for its super-sized superstructure, ruins such as the Elephant Stables and Queen’s Bath, it Chand Baori has featured as the setting for a string of and for the intricacy and elegance of the carvings of gives a powerful sense of the ceremony-filled lifestyles Bollywood song and dance numbers. Some 3500 steps and other deities that cover every spare inch of of Hampi’s ancient rulers. — www.lonelyplanet.com topple down the sides of the enormous central tank, exposed stone.