Blogs 
Leap Digest 
Events 
About Us 
About the Stepwells Reading Passage
The Stepwells passage examines the history and architecture of stepwells — large, elaborately designed water structures built across the Indian subcontinent from around the third millennium BCE onward. The text traces their practical and ceremonial roles, describes key structural features, and explains why they fell into disuse after the colonial period.
The passage comes from Cambridge IELTS 11, Academic Test 3, Passage 1.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–14, which are based on the passage below.
This passage contains two question types: True/False/Not Given (Questions 1–7) and Sentence Completion (Questions 8–14)
Stepwells — Full Reading Passage
Paragraph A
The history of human settlement in South Asia is, in many ways, the history of water management. Ancient cities of the Indus Valley civilization, among them Mohenjo-daro, in present-day Pakistan, were built more than 4,000 years ago with sophisticated drainage systems. But the innovation that interests Morna Simpson, a researcher who has spent years studying these structures, is the stepwell: essentially, a set of stairs leading down to the water supply. These were found across the Indian subcontinent, their vertical dimensions sometimes reaching ten storeys, their horizontal extent spreading across the equivalent of a large city block.
Paragraph B
Stepwells are, in many respects, the opposite of conventional wells. While a conventional well is built for function alone, with little room for human access beyond the ability to lower and raise a bucket, stepwells were built for use by whole communities. Their stairs allowed people to descend to the water level as the supply dropped in the dry season. The construction was large enough to collect rainwater and serve as a venue for rituals and public gatherings, fulfilling a role that went far beyond the purely utilitarian.
Paragraph C
Stepwells were most numerous and impressive in the state of Gujarat in northwestern India, a particularly dry region where reliable water access was critical. The construction of stepwells was funded by wealthy merchants and royal patrons, while the actual building work was carried out by skilled craftsmen organised into guilds. The competition among wealthy donors to build the most impressive structure resulted in extraordinary feats of architecture. The stepwell at Patan, known as Rani ki Vav, has over 800 sculptures and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Paragraph D
The most elaborate stepwells were not just architectural achievements; they were also places of worship. Many were decorated with carvings of Hindu gods and were used for rituals as well as for gathering water. This religious function elevated the stepwell beyond an engineering solution. In some cases, the religious connection was so strong that the identity of a well was tied closely to the deity it was dedicated to rather than to the royal patron who funded it.
Paragraph E
Over the centuries, stepwells became important centres of social and religious life. Women, who were responsible for collecting water, spent long periods at the wells during the day. This made the stepwell a place where they could socialise away from home. Men would also gather at stepwells to conduct business. The combination of social and religious function gave stepwells a unique and central role in the life of Indian communities.
Paragraph F
The physical structure of a stepwell is defined by its depth below ground level. Unlike temples or palaces, which project upward into the skyline, stepwells descend into the earth. The further one walks down the steps, the cooler and quieter it becomes, creating a space that was valued for rest and reflection as much as for water collection. This subterranean quality meant stepwells were both practically useful in the heat and symbolically significant as a threshold between the surface world and the world below.
Paragraph G
Stepwells fell into disuse following the arrival of the British colonial administration, which installed piped water systems as part of its public works programmes. Treated as outdated and unsanitary, many stepwells were filled in or simply abandoned. Today, renewed interest from historians and archaeologists has brought the surviving structures back into focus. Some have been restored and opened to tourists, though the challenge of maintaining them in a changed water landscape remains significant.
Stepwells Reading Questions and Answers
Questions 1–7: True/False/Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
Write:
- TRUE — if the statement agrees with the information
- FALSE — if the statement contradicts the information
- NOT GIVEN — if there is no information on this in the passage
1. Ancient cities of the Indus Valley civilisation were built with sophisticated drainage systems.
2. Conventional wells were designed to allow access by large numbers of people at a time.
3. The stepwell at Patan was funded by a member of the royal family.
4. The construction of some stepwells was carried out by craftsmen who belonged to guilds.
5. The religious identity of every stepwell was tied to the deity it was dedicated to rather than to the patron who paid for it.
6. Women used stepwells more frequently than men did.
7. Some stepwells have been restored and are now visited by tourists.
Questions 8–14: Sentence Completion
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
8. Stepwells were found across the Indian __________.
9. Stepwells were built for use by whole __________.
10. Skilled craftsmen who built stepwells were organised into __________.
11. Many stepwells were decorated with carvings of Hindu __________.
12. Stepwells became important centres of __________ and religious life.
13. Stepwells descend below __________.
14. Renewed interest from historians and __________ has brought surviving stepwells back into focus.
