{"id":17873,"date":"2017-07-03T00:34:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T06:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drfumblefinger.com\/wrdprs\/?p=17873"},"modified":"2017-07-03T00:34:20","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T06:34:20","slug":"jantar-mantar-a-visit-to-the-royal-observatory-of-jaipur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drfumblefinger.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/jantar-mantar-a-visit-to-the-royal-observatory-of-jaipur\/","title":{"rendered":"Jantar Mantar — A Visit to the Royal Observatory of Jaipur"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jantar Mantar is a walled astronomical observation compound which adjoins the Royal Palace of Jaipur.  It’s home to a collection of astronomical instruments — many massive — and was built in the eighteenth century by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh.  The site was completed in 1734 and is an interesting hybrid of masonry, brass and science.  Although it was abandoned in the 19th century and fell into disrepair, the site has been restored and is well preserved (the best in India).  It is notable for being home to the world’s largest stone sundial, but I found all the instruments to be interesting.<\/p>\n

Even a non-sophisticated or lay astronomer can have a sense of wonder at complexity of the instrumentation, and understand the principles of simple instruments like the sundials.  It takes a true astronomer to comprehend how some of these instruments were used to track the location of major stars as the earth orbits, the determination of celestial altitudes and so on.  The Jantar Mantar is a reminder of the astronomical skills of a scholarly prince at the end of the Mughal period.   Jantar Mantar is a UNESCO World Heritage site<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The observatory consists of nineteen instruments for measuring time, predicting eclipses and such.  A discussion of all the instruments is beyond the scope of this blog and the interested reader is referred to the site’s website<\/strong>.<\/a> Some examples of these specially built structures include:<\/p>\n