Jantar Mantar, Delhi edition

While my mom was visiting I took the opportunity to visit several places that I had been wanting to get to but had never managed to actually find someone to accompany me. There was one place, though, that I had been purposely putting off until she returned to visit and that was the Jantar Mantar in Delhi. On her first visit we had explored the one in Jaipur and been captivated by the historical astronomy tools that towered over their small courtyard and had wished we had spent a bit more time soaking up the beautiful lines and scientific amazement that came with our visit. I was excited to take mom with me to see how the smaller Jantar Mantar in the middle of New Delhi would compare to what we had see in Jaipur. Made of red sandstone and white marble the contrast in the instruments make them stand out in the middle of the modern day city. Multi-story business buildings tower over the site and yet your attention is captured by these astronomical instruments that date back to 1724. The constructions truly reflect their name: Jantar means yantar or instrument and Mantar formulae. So Jantar Mantar is a site of formulae instruments. The observatory in Delhi is the first one built by Maharaj Jai Singh and as such is it not quite as ambitious in its instruments. There are four main instruments in Delhi. The towering Samrat Yantra functions as a giant sundial. The pleasantly curved Misra Yantra can determine the shortest and longest day of the year as well as provide the exact moment of noon in various locations. The pair of Ram Yantra with their arched rounded construction can measure the altitude and azimuth of different celestial objects. They come as pair with the open spaces of one corresponding to the solid rays of the other enabling an observer to place any shadow. The Jai Prakash Yantra are also a pair that are perfectly complementary. If you could lay them together no space would exist. It acts as a reflection of the sky above and is said to be so accurate that the other instruments were calibrated according to it. In any case, these ancient astronomical instruments are truly something to behold, even if I still can't quite get my head around how precise they still are.

Jantar Mantar

"Oh, wow...." That was the only thought going through my head as I tried to keep my jaw from dropping down. We had just walked into Jantar Mantar, an observatory which was built between 1727 and 1734. My eyes skipped from structure to structure, absorbing the symmetry and geometry of constructions which made this such an accurate measuring tool. The name Jantar Mantar literally means calculation instrument, and the 14 large devices in this fairly small astronomical park are exactly that. There is the Vrihat Samrat Yantra, the giant sundial which proudly rises above everything else. If its sheer size and smooth lines aren't enough to impress you, how about the fact that it is accurate to 2 seconds, still accurate to this day. Just off to one side is a set of 12 similar structures. The zodiac gnomes are individually calibrated to be accurate depending on which zodiac sign is in the sky. There is the Narivalaya Yantra, a large double faced sundial. The hemisphere impressions in the ground form the Jai Praksh Yantra which shows a star's position. Other instruments' uses escaped my notice as I was drawn to the careful construction, precise rulers etched into the edges, or the sweeping lines. The large astrolabe was intriguing, especially when I realized that I could sight some of the other instruments through it if I got low enough. Okay, not exactly what it is supposed to be used for (rather a precise measurement of the degree a star has risen and its east-west inclination). I'm sure I missed out on understanding a lot about what these fantastic tools could do; regardless Jantar Mantar was my favorite stop in Jaipur.

If you want to learn a bit more about how some of the instruments work this is the best site I found.