Exploration
. . of a part of an edifice built 279 years ago.
The Yantra Mandir in Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan in India, is often called the Jantar Mantar, especially in the tourist trade. It is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1733. It is modeled after the one that he had built for him at the then Mughal capital of Delhi, in India.
The observatory consists of 14 major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars in their orbits, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides.
Built of local stone and marble, each instrument carries an astronomical scale, generally marked on the marble inner lining. Bronze tablets, all extraordinarily accurate, were also employed.
The instruments are, in most cases, huge structures, such as the one depicted in this photograph.
An excursion through Jai Singh's Jantar is an unique experience; one of walking through solid geometry and encountering a collective system of gigantic instruments designed to study the heavens.
On Black, this looks like a scene from a film by by David Lean or Richard Attenborough. [Or, may be I am kidding myself. :-) ]
Exploration
. . of a part of an edifice built 279 years ago.
The Yantra Mandir in Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan in India, is often called the Jantar Mantar, especially in the tourist trade. It is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1733. It is modeled after the one that he had built for him at the then Mughal capital of Delhi, in India.
The observatory consists of 14 major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars in their orbits, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides.
Built of local stone and marble, each instrument carries an astronomical scale, generally marked on the marble inner lining. Bronze tablets, all extraordinarily accurate, were also employed.
The instruments are, in most cases, huge structures, such as the one depicted in this photograph.
An excursion through Jai Singh's Jantar is an unique experience; one of walking through solid geometry and encountering a collective system of gigantic instruments designed to study the heavens.
On Black, this looks like a scene from a film by by David Lean or Richard Attenborough. [Or, may be I am kidding myself. :-) ]