Jantar Mantar

Delhi is famous for its historic monuments which mainly have a Mughal touch to them. One of the major tourist spot in Delhi is Jantar Mantar which is one of the greatest masterpieces of architecture. It is the symbol of the scientific perfection of the ancient India. The Jantar Mantar is located in the central Delhi at the parliament street which is near to the Connaught place. Jantar Mantar is also known by the name of the Delhi Observatory. This great masterpiece was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh in 1710 A.D. and therefore till date, the monument is maintained by the Jaipur Government.

The Jantar Mantar mainly consists fourteen geometric devices which can be used for various purposes like measuring time, weather forecast, and also to predict the behavior of different planets. These devices are pointing in a specific direction and are fixed. The Samrat Jantar is the largest instrument among all. It is 90 feet in height. Its shadow is used to predict the exact time of the day. There is a small domed structure called Hindu Chhatri which is used to depict any weather changes and also the time of the onset of the monsoon.

The major instruments in Jantar Mantar include – the Samrat Yantra or the Prince of Dials which is the largest device, the Jai Prakash, the Ram Yantra which consists of two circular buildings, the Misra Yantra which lies to the north west of the Samrat Yantra. All the instruments have specific functions and are of great importance like the shortest and the longest days of the year can be measured by using the Misra Yantra.

The Jai Prakash can be sued to get an idea about the position of the sun at the time of equinox. The hole at the bottom of the Jai Prakash observes light of the sun only once in a year, at the time of the vernal equinox, which occurs on 21st March.

Another important instrument is the Ram Yantra which has two large buildings with open top. These buildings play a very important role in measuring the altitudes of the stars. The altitude length of the stars gives the perfect measure of the latitudes and the longitudes of the earth.

The instrument called as the Misra Yantra consists of five instruments which measure the shortest day and the longest day. Though these instruments are not used in modern world, they are a proof of India’s scientific knowledge.