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Astronomy heritage tour to India's observatories of stone

Follow Arvind Paranjpye as he takes you to four cities of India to see observatories of stone, the Jantar Mantars, some of which are still in use

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Jantar Mantar in Jaipur, Image courtesy: Suman Sarkar
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Long before airplanes came into being and travellers needed watches to calculate time difference, ancient observatories in India had life-size instruments built from stone, of which the Mishra Yantra can be used to know when it’s noon in different cities across the world. These observatories called Jantar Mantar (meaning instruments for calculation) were a vision of Maharaja Jai Singh II, the Rajput king of Amber, who was also known for being the founder and architect of Jaipur.
Legend has it that in the court of Muhammad Shah, who ascended the Mughal throne in 1719, Farsi and Hindu astrologers were once debating over positions of certain planets to find an auspicious day for his next expedition. But the positions of the planets as per these two schools (Farsi and Hindu) didn’t match. When Jai Singh, also present during the discussion, asked, “Why don’t they go and check the actual positions of the planets in the sky?”, he was told, “These learned people lack knowledge of practical astronomy.” Thus Jai Singh, who had great interest in mathematics, architecture and astronomy, decided to construct observatories that could accurately measure the positions of planets; Muhammad Shah supported his vision. Between 1724 AD and 1735 AD, he built five masonry observatories in Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. To achieve high accuracy in measurements, he built large instruments. He first considered using metal, but for technical reasons, including metal’s property of bending, he used locally-available stones, brick, rubble and lime plaster. the local time, predict eclipses, record the position and motion of planets as well as stars and much more. Except for the one at Mathura, which was destroyed before the Sepoy Mutiny (1857), these observatories still exist. The striking combinations of the geometric forms of these instruments captivates architects, artists and art historians alike. Not only the size of the instruments, but also the open-air nature of these observatories is fascinating.

Jaipur
The most prominent, common feature of all Jantar Mantars is the Samrat Yantra, a sundial used to keep time. Jaipur has the tallest one at 27m. Watching the shadow of its inclined wall, as it moves 1mm/sec, is a profound experience. An instrument 1/10th this size will be ten times slower and not easily perceived. Jaipur not only has the maximum number instruments, but also some really interesting ones. The Shasthansa Yantra is used to measure the sun’s angular diameter.

Jaipur’s Nadi Valve Yantra tells you the sun’s hemispheric position
Image courtesy: Arvind Paranjpye


 The Rashivalaya Yantra, a group of twelve instruments, each dedicated to a particular Zodiac sign, helps determine the longitude and latitude of the first point of the sunsign at a particular time. Jai Prakash Yantra, used for marking positions of stars, is based on a concept dating back to 300 BC. While similar instruments are found in Europe and China, this one is the most elaborate, versatile and complex.

Rashivalaya Yantra has instruments dedicated to each sunsign
Image courtesy: Padma Saini 



Jai Prakash Yantra is used for marking positions of stars.
Image courtesy: Dalbeer Singh Negi 


Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar has now been declared a UNESCO world heritage site due to the size of its instruments and also its contribution to the evolution of astronomy. Some people, possibly astrologers, still use these yantras for keeping records.

Delhi
Like in Jaipur, you’ll find people to show you around the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, but they are just local guides. Yet, due to its central location, the Jantar Mantar in Delhi is the most frequented by tourists as well as amateur astronomers; it also has plaques for reference. But unfortunately, people write unsavoury comments on its walls and the area outside has become more popular for protests than the reason for which it was actually built.

Delhi’s Mishra Yantra can tell you when it’s noon around the world.
Image courtesy: Arvind Paranjpye
 

Varanasi and Ujjain
Built on the roof of Man Mahal, Varanasi’s Jantar Mantar is smaller, less accessible and less active. But the one at Ujjain called Vedh Shala would possibly lend tourists the best experience as its management has scientific knowledge, studies planetary motions here, publishes an ephemeris (Panchang) every year and conducts sky shows to observe celestial bodies. Ujjain’s observatory also has a telescope and planetarium, where people are shown how the yantras were used, how the readings were done etc.

Samrat Yantra and Nadi Valve Yantra in Ujjain. Image courtesy: Arvind Paranjpye

Its Nadi Valve Yantra tells you the sun’s hemispheric location–when the sun is in the northern hemisphere, the yantra’s northern hemisphere disc gets illuminated and when it’s in the southern hemisphere, the corresponding disc is illuminated. Jantar Mantars not only give you a glimpse into India’s rich history of astronomy, but they also act as great tools for learning about and engaging with celestial bodies.

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