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Jantar Mantar
Sign in to saveAlso known as Jyotish Yantralaya
monument site, collection of astronomical instruments in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Key facts
- Location
- Jaipur , Rajasthan, India
- Built
- 1728–1734 ; 292 years ago ( 1734 )
- Area
- 1.8652 ha (4.609 acres)
- Governing body
- Government of Rajasthan
- Official name
- The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
- Criteria
- Cultural: (iii), (iv)
- Designated
- 2010 (34th session )
- Region
- Southern Asia
via Wikipedia infobox
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Jantar Mantar, Jaipur The Jantar Mantar is a collection of 19 astronomical instruments built by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The monument was completed in 1734. It features the world's largest stone sundial, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is near City Palace and Hawa Mahal. The instruments allow the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye. The observatory is an example of the Ptolemaic positional astronomy which was shared by many civilizations.
The monument features instruments operating in each of the three main classical celestial coordinate systems: the horizon-zenith local system, the equatorial system, and the ecliptic system. The Kanmala Yantraprakara is one that works in two systems and allows the transformation of the coordinates directly from one system to the other. It has the biggest sundial in the world.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Jantar Mantar” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.