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The following two comments were copied over from the article, by Imc 19:31, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I am really not quite sure whether the artefacts we saw (built 400 years ago and looking as good as new!) were constructed to tell the time or to display star signs. One of the devices contained a map of the star system over which was a circular piece of metal with a hole in it. When the sun shone through the hole it pinpointed the star system which at that moment in time was situated behind the sun in the sky. As the seasons changed the angle of the sun changed and so did the angle of the spot light. So I am inclined to believe, because the Indians devote a lot of their time to astrology (not astronomy) and to their future as written in the stars that that is essentially what this park was all about. Not for telling the time in spite of the fact that our guide related to us the story that the larger the structure the more accurate the shadow and the time. . .which logically is nonsense. The broader the shadow the more indistinguishable the pointer and therefore the greater the error. . .surely! (added 25 Dec 05 by 211.30.54.210)

EDIT:

I disagree with the above paragraph. I have been to the Jantar-Mantar in Delhi; and our guide was a much better guide. Infact he was the care-taker of Jantar-Mantar, Delhi. He was a third generation Care-Taker; his father and grandfather before him were also Caretakers of Jantar-Mantar, Delhi. Jantar means Instruments, while Mantar means Observation. Jantar Mantar are Observation Instruments for depicting the astronomy.

If you want to read time, here is the method described. There are two half dials on either side of the dial; one for Summer and one for Winter. The larger one is for Summer; while the smaller one is for Winter. Measure where the sun-rays are falling (the dial markings are illegible now, with the passage of time; so to decipher the smallest measure, in Indian terms 1 unit = 3 finger distance) Now subtract this figure from 90 (90 degree angle is represented by each half dial). Now multiply this by 4. Now divide the result by 60. The quotient of this calculation is the hour of the day (add 6 to this figure, since Jantar-Mantar takes into account that the sun rises at 6:00 a.m. generally).

The remainder of the calculation is the minutes past that hour of the day. This gives you the local time of the city the Jantar Mantar is in. I hope this clarifies the time observatory aspect of Jantar Mantar. For more information please check http://www.jantarmantar.org/ (added 4 Jan 06 by 61.12.42.198 )

Hi, everyone. Being a researcher born in Jaipur, I know that the title we are using is a totally incorrect one. Yantra Mandir is a corruption since:

Jantar comes from Yantra = instrument Mantra comes from Mantra = chanting

Jantar-Mantar = "magic" or "chanting instruments" in traditional understanding. It is true that they have alot of astrological significance since in Hinduism astronomy's chief function was not to tell the present, but the future.

[edit] Broken and inappropriate links?

Hi everyone,

the link "The Jantar Mantar Projekt" to http://rohitgupta.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/Show+Description points to a "forbidden" page - that is, I'm getting a 403 there.

And does the Kalki temple anything to do with the Jantar Mantar, besides the fact that it's in the neighbourhood? 84.158.239.216 11:04, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Interwiki links de+fr WP

In the german version thats linked by Interwikis we have one coordinate and will add the others too. Is it possible here to insert the coos too? - I'll like to learn the method to implemeted coordinates here, so I'd like a link to a descrition how to implement coordinates. --SonniWP 21:33, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Jantar Mantar Sundial.jpg

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BetacommandBot (talk) 12:58, 8 March 2008 (UTC)