Direction: Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

The remarkably unique, useful, and often ornamental stepwells of India - lie forgotten.

Stepwells first appeared in India between the 2nd and 4th centuries A.D., in areas that were dry for much of the year, followed by heavy monsoon rains for many weeks. It was essential to guarantee a year-round water-supply for drinking, bathing, irrigation, and washing, particularly in the dry states of western India. In these multi-story wells, water was reached by descending a set of steps, which could number over a hundred. But during rainy seasons, the well could be filled to capacity and hide the steps. Most stepwells gradually narrow from the surface to the lowest tier underground. Being built deep into the earth, many stepwells have little presence above the surface other than a low masonry wall. Most people are, therefore, unaware of these centuries-old water-structures that can even be found hiding in plain sight close to crowded places like Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi or Agra’s Taj Mahal.

By the 19th-century, several thousand stepwells had been built throughout India, and along crucial, remote trade routes where travelers and pilgrims could park their animals and take shelter. Stepwells also served as a place for religious ceremonies and social gatherings. Usually, women were more associated with these wells because they were the ones who collected the water and prayed to the goddess of the well.

At present, the growing water crisis has seen renewed efforts to de-silt and “reactivate” a few wells in Delhi and Gujarat. This may spark more interest in these disappearing marvels.