Jantar Mantar

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Jantar Mantar in Jaipur, India.
Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India.

The Jantar Mantar is an equinoctial sundial, consisting a gigantic triangular gnomon with the hypotenuse parallel to the Earth's axis. On either side of the gnomon is a quadrant of a circle, parallel to the plane of the equator. The instrument is intended to measure the time of day, correct to half a second and declination of the Sun and the other heavenly bodies.

History

In the early 18th century, Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five Jantar Mantars in total, in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi; they were completed between 1724 and 1735.

The jantars have evocative names like, Samrat Yantra, Jai Prakash, Ram Yantra and Niyati Chakra; each of which are used to for various astronomical calculations. The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets.[1]

The Sun Dial at the Vedh Shala in Ujjain.
Exciting Jantar Mantar 02

Name

The name "Jantar Mantar" is at least 200 years old, finding a mention in an account from 1803.[2] However, the archives of Jaipur State, such as accounts from 1735 and 1737–1738, do not use this name, referring to it simply as Jantra, which in the spoken language is corrupted to Jantar.[2] The word Jantra is derived from yantra, instrument, while the suffix Mantar is from the practice of adding a (usually meaningless) rhyming word for emphasis.[2] The words jantar and 'mantar (or yantra and mantra) in their colloquial meanings are also related, referring to magical diagrams and magical words respectively.[2] It has also been suggested that Jantar Mantar is derived from Yantra Mandira, but no evidence for this has been found.[2]

See also

  • List of archaeoastronomical sites sorted by country
  • Mantra
  • Yantra

References

  1. ↑ Sankalp India Foundation. Jantart Mantar: Get lost in space! (2008-07-22).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Sharma, V‌irendra Nath (1995), Sawai Jai Singh And His Astronomy, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., pp. 98–99 ‌, ISBN 81-208-1256-5 

External links

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Coordinates: 26°55′28.45711″N 75°49′27.33″E / 26.9245714194°N 75.8242583°E / 26.9245714194; 75.8242583

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