Monument Name Jantar Mantar Delhi Location Parliament Street, Near Connaught Place State Delhi Timings Coordinates 28.6269, 77.2166 Wikipedia Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra_Mandir_%28Delhi%29 Entrance Fee Other Details

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Jantar Mantar of Jaipur is one of the five astronomical observatories built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the year 1728. There is a story behind this observatory also. The Maharaja, ruler of Ajmer and founder of Jaipur, was a scholarly man interested in the workings of the celestial bodies. Emperor Muhammad Shah, once, asked him to make corrections in the astronomical tables and to confirm the already available planetary positions data. For the purpose, he built two observatories, one at Delhi (in 1724) and one at Jaipur (in 1724). It took him approximately 7 years to finish the task assigned by Muhammad Shah.

It is said that Sawai Jai Singh II sent his envoys to various parts of the world to collect manuals, astronomical tables and data on the advances made in the fields of astronomy. Sawai Jai Singh II got so much impressed with the La Hire's "Tables" that he ordered that the Jaipur observatory would be built according to the data available in the table manual. After the Jaipur Jantar Mantar was completed, it was discovered that it was even more accurate than the table. The observatory houses the Jaiprakash Yantra, Samrat Yantra, Ram Yantra and the Composite instrument, which comprises of a sundial and a massive hemisphere.

Located near the gate of the City Palace, Jantar Mantar of Jaipur, Rajasthan is the biggest stone observatory in the world, still in a running condition. Make sure to visit this observatory while on a trip to Jaipur.

At the entrance to the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, the 'Yantralaya' of Sawai Jai Singh II, the last great classical astronomer in India. The modernistic structures known as 'Yantras' are the unique creations of this astronomer-king designed by him and built by experts to observe the movements of sun, moon, planets and the stars.

This is the largest of five observatories founded by him in 1716 AD. The others are at Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura & Varanasi. Its massive masonry instruments are of an extraordinary precision & can still be used to measure local time, the sun's declination, azimuth & altitude, the declination of fixed stars & planets & also to determine the time of an eclipse of the sun.

From Amber,their former capital,the Kachhwaha of Rajputs of Rajasthan moved to Jaipur. The City Palace is the core of the royal residences in Jaipur. Each new Maharaja made his own additions to Sawai Jai Singh's original city palace.

In the heart of the old city of Jaipur,the City Palace occupies a large area,divided into a series of courtyards,gardens,and buildings. The carved arches are supported by grey-white marble columns ornate with floral motifs in gold and colored stones. Two carved elephants in marble guard the entrance. The outer wall was built by Maharaja Jai Singh II,but other additions are much more recent,some dating back to the beginning of this century. The palace is a wonderful blend of Rajasthani and Mughal architecture.

The centre of the palace,is the Chandra Mahal,private palace of the ruler,which is approached through a number of courtyards. Mubarak Mahal,in the first courtyard,is a guesthouse now used as a textile museum. A magnificent gateway with a grand door in brass is to be crossed to reach the Diwan-I-Khas in a stately courtyard. It is an open hall with a double row of columns with scalloped arches. On display here are two gigantic silver urns used by Madho Singh II to carry water from the holy Ganges on board the ocean liner when he travelled to London in 1902. These are the largest silver vessels in the world - 242.7 kilograms of silver was required to cast each urn,which could contain 8182 gallons of water. These urns figure in the Guinness Book of World Records.

At the eastern corner of this courtyard stands the Diwan-I-Aam,now a museum of miniature paintings,palanquins,manuscripts and Persian carpets . At the other corner stands the Ridhi Sidhi Pol,splendid gateway to the Pritam Chowk. Herein four smaller doorways are decorated with motifs depicting the four seasons. Of immense charm is the Peacock door. Chandra Mahal,the main royal residence,is seven storeyed and topped by Mukut Mandir,an elegant pavilion with a curvilinear roof. The various apartments and floors carry their own distinctive style of ornamentation to suit the ruler's taste.

Such Niwas and Shobha Niwas are still occupied by the ex-Maharaja. Such Niwas has been painted in Wedgwood blue,ornamented with white lining. Only the ground floor is open to visitors. Through the glass panes you can see the Sri Govinda Temple,the first structure built by Sawai jai Singh in Jaipur. The Chandra Mahal is a fanciful medley of Mughal and Rajput architecture.

Opposite the Chandra Mahal lies the Badal Mahal. The Govind Devji Temple stands in the middle of the Chandra Mahal and the Badal Mahal. A delightful system of mountains is placed in the middle of the paved path between the Chandra Mahal and the Badal Mahal. The palace has extensive and sprawling gardens.

Jantar Mantar- Colossal Observatory

Jantar Mantar, built between 1728 and 1734, literally means the ‘instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens’. Jai Singh, the brain behind the grand project, chose stone with marble facing. This was the biggest of all his observatories and the only one built of stone. He used it daily, often with his astronomy gurus Pandit Jagannath and Kewal Ram. In all there are 17 instruments in the Jantar Mantar complex. The function of each instrument is rather complex but serves a particular function where time plays the main theme.

Instruments Used in Jantar Mantar

The instruments and their functions are given below in the order of their anti-clockwise position in the complex. The large Kranti Yantra was employed for the measurement of the longitude and latitude of the celestial bodies. The Diganta Yantra was deviced to measure the azimuth (arc of the celestial great circle from Zenith to horizon) of planetary bodies. Similarly, the Small Ram Yantra and the Large Ram Yantra are used to find the altitude and the azimuth. The Chakra Yantra gives the angular measurement of an object from the equator. The Jai Prakash Yantra determines the precise coordinates of celestial bodies and the small iron plate strung between the crosswires gives the sun’s longitude and latitude and the zodiacal sign that it is passing through. Its main function is to keep an eye on all the other instruments.

Adequacy of Specific Yantras

The Rashivalayas Yantra operates in the same manner as that of the Samrat Yantra and has one sundial for each of the zodiac signs. Five of them (Gemini, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo and Leo) are at the back from north to south. Aries and Libra face them followed by Aquarius, Pisces, Capricorn, Scorpio and Sagittarius from north to south. It helps in taking readings the moment each zodiacal sign crosses the meridian. The Large Samrat Yantra is based on the same principle as that of the small one but in size it is 10 times larger and more accurate by 2 secs. The sundial is 27.4m high and is still used on the Guru Purnima (full moon day in the month of Jul/Aug) to forecast the onset of monsoon. The Dakshina Yantra is a wall is aligned along the north-south meridian. It is mainly used to observe the position and movement of the celestial bodies when they pass over the meridian. Jai Praksh Yantra, Jantar Mantar The Disha Yantra has only one function and that is to point towards the north. The Unnathamsa Yantra is used to find the altitudes of the astral bodies. Observations can be made round the clock and the sunken steps help in taking readings from any portion of the dial. The Raj Yantra or the King of Instruments is used only once a year to calculate the Hindu calendar, the details of which are based on the Jaipur Standard. To do so a telescope is fixed over the central hole. A bar for sighting is then attached at the back of the instrument. The plain disk is used to record the sightings.The Observer’s Seat belonged to Maharaja Jai Singh and was used for observing the wonders of the sky and universe. The Narivalya Yantra is a sundial with two dials; one facing north when the sun is in the Northern Hemisphere (21 Mar-21 Sep) and the other facing south for the rest of the year.

The Dhruva Yantra helps in finding the position of the Pole Star at night and also those of the 12 zodiac signs. It is based on an entirely different system to what is used today for the same purpose. Traditionally, human breath, approximately of 6 secs was used as the standard unit of measurement. The Small Samrat Yantra is a triangular structure and has a large sundial with quadrants at the borders given in hours and minutes. The arc on the left displays the time from sunrise to midday and the one on the right from midday to sunset. The sundials have been constructed on Latitude 27°N and the reading can be adjusted to the Indian Standard Time (84°N) but that must be done according to the month and the solar position.