Observatory Jantar Mantar (Jantar Mantar) description and photos - India: Jaipur (Topic)

Jantar Mantar Observatory description and photos - India: Jaipur. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Jantar Mantar.

Photo and description

The Jantar Mantar Observatory is a complex of unique astronomical structures created by order of Maharaja Jai Singh II in Jaipur, the newly created capital of Rajasthan. Literally the name of the observatory can be translated as "a computation tool". In total, five such observatories were built in different cities of India, but it is the Jaipur Jantar Mantar that is the largest of all, besides, it is the best preserved one.

Initially, this structure was perceived as a sacred place, since astronomy in At that time, exclusively the caste of priests was engaged.

The complex consists of 14 gigantic buildings-devices, which were used to determine time, predict eclipses and weather, determine the distance to celestial objects, etc. Then it was believed that such large dimensions give these devices greater accuracy. So in the Jaipur Jantar Mantar there is the largest sundial in the world, the size of which is 27 meters in diameter. At the same time, they are in working order and show the exact time.

Today the observatory attracts a lot of tourists from all over the world. In addition, it is still used by local astronomers for weather forecasting, although their predictions do not always come true. Also, this place is often visited by people wishing to master Vedic astrology, since Jantar Mantar is one of the few "surviving" Vedic structures.

In 1948, the observatory received the status of a national monument. And already in 2010 Jantar Mantar was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Topic: Observatory Jantar Mantar (Jantar Mantar) description and photos - India: Jaipur.