Views of Delhi: Jantar Mantar

Jantar Mantar, though a building, is more like a huge group of mathematical instruments put together to observe the exact movements of planets in relation to earth.

Jantar Mantar, though a building, is more like a huge group of mathematical instruments put together to observe the exact movements of planets in relation to earth. Astronomy is given a lot of importance in India. And the ardent pursuants of this science made complex mathematical calculations to design this building.

Built by Maharaj Jai Singh the Second, in the 18th century jantar mantar still remains to be a very interesting building-complex. Though not used for astronomical purposes now, the structures here are still worth observing and learning from, for the students of present era. The main buildings in this complex are:

Samrat Yantra: This 70 feet high instrument was built in the shape of a sundial of which the diameter is 114 feet. Its hypotenuse is parallel to the axis of the earth and its orientation is towards the North Pole. The huge size of this sundial made extremely accurate readings possible. By stretching the diameter of the dial, the astronomers were able to understand the exact movements of the Sun, the earth and the Moon.

Jayaprakash Yatra: This instrument was used to observe the movement of the stars in relation to the movement of Earth. It consists of Hollow hemispheres which are marked with various scales. An astronomer, position correctly could judge the accurate movement of stars by using these scales.

Mishra Yantra: This instrument was used to tell the time in various cities of the world. The markings on this instrument depicted the major cities of the globe, observing which the astronomers could easily guess the then times there.