India, April 28 -- Untamed, elemental. No tint of tenderness redeems the bleakness of this baoli. The stone step-well inside Tughlaqabad Fort is radically different from the aesthetically perfect stone step-wells of coffee-table books and photo exhibitions. Those idyllic baolis show a series of symmetrical stone steps gently drifting down into the burrowed earth, where the water is. Their smooth sightly steps being ornamented by shaded pavilions, niches, chambers, and corridors.

No such frills for Tughlaqabad. The baoli is grandly austere.

In olden times, baolis would be built in parched lands to bring people close to scant sources of water. They were a fleeting refuge during harsh summers-indeed, over the course of ongoing summer, this...