Jantar Mantar (Jaipur)

The Jantar Mantar is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja - meaning King - Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1734. It is modelled after the one that he had built for him at the then Mughal capital of Delhi. He had constructed a total of five such labs at different locations, including the ones at Delhi and Jaipur. The Jaipur observatory is the largest of these.

Name

The name is derived from "yantra", instrument, and "mantra", for formula or in this context calculation. Therefore "jantar mantar" means literally 'calculation instrument'. In local Rajasthani dialects, it is often seen that 'ya' syllables are casually pronounced as 'ja'. For instance, 'yatra' (journey) will often be referred to as 'jatra'. Moreover, the way locals interpret the name is not as it's literal meaning, it is suspected that by 'jantar-mantar' they mean 'magical words', 'abracadabra' or 'tantric incantations'.

While this observatory has religious significance, since ancient Indian astronomers were also the Jyotisa masters, it seems wrong to interpret the name as Yantra Mandir, which would mean 'temple of instruments'.

Description

The observatory consists of fourteen major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars in their orbits, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides. Each is a fixed and 'focused' tool. The Samrat Jantar, the largest instrument, is convert|90|ft|m high, its shadow carefully plotted to tell the time of day. Its face is angled at 27 degrees, the latitude of Jaipur. The Hindu chhatri (small domed cupola) on top is used as a platform for announcing eclipses and the arrival of monsoons.

Built of local stone and marble, each instrument carries an astronomical scale, generally marked on the marble inner lining; bronze tablets, all extraordinarily accurate, were also employed. Thoroughly restored in 1901, the Jantar Mantar was declared a national monument in 1948.

An excursion through Jai Singh's Jantar is the singular one of walking through solid geometry and encountering a collective astronomical system designed to probe the heavens.

The instruments are in most cases huge structures. They are built on a large scale so that accuracy of readings can be obtained. The "samrat yantra", for instance, which is a sundial, can be used to tell the time to an accuracy of about two seconds in Jaipur local time. [http://www.jantarmantar.org/Architecture_Science_web.pdf] The Giant Sundial, known as the Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument) is the world's largest sundial, standing 27 meters tall. Its shadow moves visibly at 1 mm per second, or roughly a hand's breadth (6 cm) every minute, which for most people is a visibly profound experience. [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial] ]

Today the observatory is seen mainly as a tourist attraction. However, local astronomers still use it to predict the weather for farmers, although their authority is becoming increasingly questionable. Students of astronomy and vedic astrology are required to do some of their lessons at the observatory, and it can be said that the observatory is the single most representative work of Vedic thought that still survives, apart from the texts. Many of the smaller instruments display remarkable innovation in architectural design and it's relation to function, for instance - the Ram Yantra.

ee also

* Yantra Mandir

External links

* [http://www.bomhard.de/englisch/jaipur/00.html Jantar Mantar (Jaipur)]
* [http://www.tourismtravelindia.com/rajasthanportal/touristattractions/jantarmantar.html Website for Jantar Mantar in Jaipur] - Biggest Stone Observatory in the World (Info)
* [http://www.jantarmantar.org/Architecture_Science_web.pdf Architecture in the Service of Science]

References