Location: Near Parliamentary Street, New Delhi.
A Masonry of Instruments
Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory with mason ary
instruments, built in 1724 by Jai Singh, the mathematician and
astronomer king. The Samrat and Yantra supreme instrument, the
largest structure shaped like a right-angled triangle, is actually a
huge sun-dial; the other five instruments are intended to show the
movements of the sun, moon etc.
At first sight, the Jantar Mantar appears like a gallery of modern
art. It is, however, an observatory. Sawai Jia Singh II of Jaipur
(1699-1743), a keen astronomer and a noble in the Mughal court, was
dissatisfied by the errors of brass and metal astronomical
instruments. Under patronage from the emperor, he set on himself the
task of correcting the existing astronomical tables and updating the
almanac with more reliable instruments.
Delhi's Jantar Mantar is the first of the five observatories that
he built with large mason ary instruments. The observatory has the
Samrat Yantra, a simple equal hour sun dial, the Ram yantra for
reading altitudinal angles; Jai Prakash for ascertaining the
position of the sun and other celestial bodies, and the Misra Yantra
which is a combination of four scientific gadgets.
A Time-keeper of Celestial Bodies
The various abstract structures within the Jantar Mantar are, in
fact, instruments that were used for keeping track of celestial
bodies. Yet, Jantar Mantar is not only a timekeeper of celestial
bodies, it also tells a lot about the technological achievements
under the Rajput kings and their attempt to resolve the mysteries
regarding astronomy. The Jantar Mantar of Delhi is only one of the
five observatories built by Sawai Jai Singh II, the other four being
located at Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. All of these were
built as far back as AD 1724-1730 during the period generally known
as the dark age of Indian history, when the last great Mughal
emperor Aurangzeb had died and the Mughal Empire was rapidly
declining.
A Renaissance Of Practical Astronomy
Jai Singh's idea was to create a rebirth of practical astronomy
among the Indian masses and practicing astronomers. However, the
lofty ideals of the Jantar Mantar remained unfulfilled as the
country at that time was in chaos and the full potential of this
observatory was never realized.
The tale of rejuvenation of Jantar Mantar
Jai Singh tried to use brass instruments in this observatory, but
soon gave them up because of several inherent flaws. They were too
small, for one thing, their axes were unstable so the center often
got displaced. He then decided to follow the style adopted by the
renowned Arab astronomer, Prince Ulugh Beg, builder of the famous
15th century observatory at Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The massive
masonry instruments at Samarkand suited Jai Singh's architectural
tastes and promised to be more accurate because of sheer size. In
1730, Jai Singh sent a mission to the king of Lisbon. On its return
to Jaipur, the mission brought back a telescope and the court
astronomer by the name of Xavier de Silva. The Observatory This
unique observatory was completed in 1724 and remained operational
only for seven years.
A Symbol Of Scientific Heritage
The Jantar Mantars may have fallen into disuse but they remain an
integral part of India's scientific heritage. It presents that the
spirit of scientific enquiry was not dead in India and would have
yielded rich results if only an opportunity of research and
development had been given to it.
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