JANTAR MANTAR

Located at Parliament Street, Connaught Place, Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory that was constructed in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur. “Jantar Mantar” literally means “instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens”. It consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. The main purpose of the observatory was to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets, which is today classified as astronomy. The observatory houses three distinct instruments - the Samrat Yantra, the Jayaprakash and the Mishra yantras. The Samrat Yantra is a giant triangle and is basically an equal hour sundial that indicates hours, minutes and seconds. The Jayaprakash Yantra consists of hollowed out hemispheres with markings on their concave surfaces and the Mishra Yantra is a tool to determine the shortest and longest days of the year.

Necessity is the mother of invention and this holds remarkably true for the Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, who had a keen interest in keeping track of calendars and dates, back when it was only possible by tracking the movements of the sun, moon and planets. Being unhappy about the tiny instruments that were typically used, Maharaja Jai Singh created large astronomical instruments for accurate measurements in five sites, Connaught Place being one of them. The Jantar Mantar in Connaught Place has 13 grand astronomical tools which still give the accurate time and date, as well as marking important astronomical movements, and is a fascinating glimpse of India’s historical scientific prowess. The other four observatories were at Jaipur, Mathura, Varanasi and Ujjain. 

In 2008, advocacy groups were formed in an effort to encourage the Rajasthan government to restore the Jantar Mantar. The restoration proceeded and is now what we see today. In 2010, the Jantar Mantar was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The constant modification and corrections in the observed and mathematical tables of astronomy made these positional astronomical instruments play a key role in the continued study and development of astronomy across the globe.