Jantar Mantar in Delhi India

The first thought which comes to the mind of the visitor at its first look is the mystery behind this name...though it has not been solved yet. The word Jantar Mantar with a magical touch to it, when divided produces the meaning which stands out as - Yantra - instruments and mantra - formulae. Constructed in 1724, this historic monument in its first view gives an appearance of a gallery of modern art. It is, however, an observatory. Sawai Jia Singh II of Jaipur, a keen astronomer and a noble in the Mughal court, was dissatisfied by the errors of brass and metal astronomical instruments. This structure is another great masterpiece of Indian architecture which shows the scientific insight of ancient India.

History of Jantar Mantar

Between the time period of 1727 and 1734 Maharajah Jai Singh II of constructed five astronomical observatories in west central India. And the Jantar Mantar of Delhi is the first one to be created by him. The other observatories are situated in cities like Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets.

Construction of Jantar Mantar

The whole structure is made of stone and marble with each of them having an engraved astronomical scale. This observatory features multiple buildings of unique form, each performing a specialized function for astronomical measurement. These structures with their striking combinations of geometrical forms at large scale, have successfully achieved to captivate the attention of architects, artists, and art historians worldwide but still remain largely unknown to the general public.

The instruments at Jantar Mantar are mostly seen as a monument of fascination for its not so genuine, but accurate observations which with so many tall buildings around can no longer be made from here.

It is a remarkable structure which consists of fourteen geometric devices used for measuring time, forecasting weather changes, predicting behaviour of planets and finding extraterrestrial altitude. There are many devices placed at this historical structure which makes it more interesting. All these devices are fixed structures and pointed towards a specific direction. The largest device or instrument is the Samrat Jantar which is 90 feet high and its shadow is plotted in such a manner that it displays the exact time of the day. Any weather change or the onset of monsoons can be determined by the Hindu Chhatri, which is a small domed structure.

The other important structures of Jantar Mantar are:
The Jai Prakash shows the sun's position at the time of equinox. The hole near the bottom of the structure witnesses sunshine only once a year, i.e. on 21 march.

To the north-west of the Prakash Yantra, there is an instrument called Mishra Yantra, which consist of five instruments. Pillars on the southwest of Mishra Yantra are used to measure the shortest day (21 December) and the longest day (21 June) of the year.

Consisting of two large buildings with open top, Ram Yantra is a device used to measure the altitude of stars which is equivalent to the latitude and the longitude on the earth.