India’s palaces, forts, temples, and tombs are on every tourist itinerary and in every guidebook. But the country’s magnificent subterranean Stepwells remain largely unknown both within and outside the country. These unique water-harvesting structures—marvels of architecture, engineering, and art—proliferated throughout the subcontinent for over a millennium but eventually faded into oblivion by the 19th century.

Journalist Victoria Lautman has spent years documenting hundreds of the subterranean structures through articles and photographs, and her landmark book, The Vanishing Stepwells of India, was published in 2017 (Merrell Publishers, London). In this lecture, Victoria will trace the fascinating history, variety, and current state of India’s least-known edifices.