Scottish help for Patan monument Rani ki Vav

A richly sculptured monument, known for its astounding carvings, rich heritage and history attached to it; the queen amongst stepwells in India gets documented to be showcased in 3D so that it makes it to the final of UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Currently featuring in the tentative list of UNESCO, Rani-ki-vav, at Patan, Gujarat, is being studied and documented for a period of 15 days, by a Scottish team of experts. "It is a beautiful monument, which has been in the tentative list and we are merely helping it to make it into the final list of UNESCO's world heritage sites. This work is being done in association with the Vadodara circle of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials and we wish to continue this partnership with ASI in the future as well for more monuments of the state and country per se", head of the delegation and expert from Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation, Dr Lyn Wilson, informed.

The team comprises six members including photographers, surveyors and visualization specialists. They are here to survey and capture images after which the data processing work will start in Scotland. Dr Wilson said: "Rani-ki-Vav is the only monument in India that has been included in the 'Scottish Ten' project undertaken by the Historic Scotland and Glasgow School of Art and History. We are using laser technology to study this heritage structure and are also training ASI officials in using the same, while they study a historic monument in Gujarat and outside."

The Scot team will capture the 3D images of the stepwell which will then be used to create an exact digital model that will aid in conserving and maintaining it. Dr Wilson, who is visiting Ahmedabad a second time, added: "All the images will be shared with the American not-for-profit organisation CyArk, founded by Ben Kacyra, inventor of the laser scanner. It is collecting the data from 500 world heritage landmarks to hold in a freely accessible global archive. This will help future generations inspire and take note of the beautiful manmade piece of history and heritage.