Looks like a piece of M.C. Escher art, doesn't it? But it's real, one of the thousands of stepwells built in India from around the 2nd century A.D. onward. Early designs were utilitarian, a way to get at underground water during the dry season, but the architecture grew into something that was often much more elaborate.
More photos and information can be found here: CLICK
And Merrell Publishers (no relation) has a new book about the stepwells: CLICK
Photo from Colossal