Jantar Mantar: Historical and astronomical significance

New Delhi: Jantar Mantar of Delhi has currently become the main site of protests. However, it was not created for this purpose. Actually, Jantar Mantar was built as an astronomical observatory, after which similar places were established in Jaipur, Varanasi and Ujjain. Do you know who built Jantar Mantar and why? It was built not just as a historical building, but to accurately track time, planets and the positions of the stars. There are four special instruments present here, which have different functions and importance. Let us know about the history of Jantar Mantar and the features of these amazing instruments.

Who built Jantar Mantar?

Delhi’s Jantar Mantar was built in 1724 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur. He had a keen interest in mathematics and astronomy, hence he built this unique observatory. At that time modern clocks and scientific instruments were not available, hence the need for Jantar Mantar was felt to know the time, day, exact position of planets and stars. With the help of special instruments installed here, astronomical calculations were done and time was estimated accurately.

Know the time by sunlight and moon

The instruments installed at Jantar Mantar were designed to tell the correct time using the light of the Sun and the Moon. People of that time used to keep track of time through these scientific instruments in the absence of modern clocks.

At that time, there were many errors in astronomical calendars and calculations, making it difficult to determine the exact timing of festivals and auspicious dates. To solve these problems, after Delhi, observatories like Jantar Mantar were established in Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. With the help of these instruments, not only the time but also the position and movement of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and other planets were accurately determined.

Weather information was also available

Jantar Mantar was not only used to know the time and planetary positions, but also to predict solar and lunar eclipses. Through this, many important information to weather and astronomical events was obtained. Many special instruments are installed here, with the help of which time, movement of planets, direction of the Sun and other astronomical activities were studied accurately. The four main instruments present here were made for their different purposes.

Four major instruments of Jantar Mantar

1. Samrat Yantra: It is one of the largest stone sundials in the world. With its help, local time, altitude of the Sun and position of celestial bodies were accurately determined.

2. Jai Prakash Yantra: It is composed of two hemispherical structures. Through this, the exact position of the Sun, stars and other celestial bodies was studied.

3. Ram Yantra: It is composed of two cylindrical structures. It was used to measure the altitude and direction of any celestial body.

4. Mixer: It is a combination of five different instruments. With its help, the exact time of noon, the longest and shortest day of the year and also the time of different places were compared.