Welcome back to another episode of Incredible India. In the previous episode, I talked about the Lotus Temple. In this episode we will get to know about an old observatory built to note the observation of the astronomical bodies in the sky, the Jantar Mantar.

Jantar Mantar

Jantar Mantar is a special observatory built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur in Delhi to accurately observe the astronomical bodies like the sun, moon, and planets. It was constructed in 1724 and is part of a group of observatories constructed by Maharaja Jai Singh in cities like Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura.^[source]

How to reach

Jantar Mantar is located in the Connaught Place in New Delhi and can be easily accessible by air or road.

The nearest airport is the IGI Airport and from there you can take a private cab/taxi to reach the Jantar Mantar. It would take like 20 mins to reach by taxi from the airport.

Alternatively, you can take the metro too and can get off at Patel chowk or the Janpath and easily reach there.

Instruments in Jantar Mantar

Jantar Mantar being an observatory have many yantras or instruments to measure the heavenly bodies. Maharaja Jai Singh II believed that the astronomical instruments of that time were too small and inaccurate, he built the massive instruments for accurate measurements.

Let's see some of the Yantras.

Samrat Yantra

Samrat Yantra meaning the King of Instruments is the largest instrument here in Delhi Observatory.

According to Wikipedia -

It is a giant triangle that is basically an equal hour sundial. It is 70 feet high, 114 feet long at the base, and 10 feet thick. It has a 128-foot ih-long (39 m) hypotenuse that is parallel to the Earth's axis and points toward the North Pole. On either side of the triangle is a quadrant with graduations indicating hours, minutes, and seconds. ^[source]

West tower of Samrat Yantra

The centre tower of the Samrat Yantra point to the North Star.

Centre tower of the Samrat Yantra

East tower of the Samrat Yantra

Misra Yantra

The Misra means the Composite Yantra is made up of five different instruments. Hence, the name Misra Yantra.

Here is more information given if someone is interested in knowing what and how it works.

Misra Yantra

Dakshinottara Bhitti

Agra Yantra

Rama Yantra

It is one of the unique Yantra believed to be invented by Maharaja Jai Singh II and used to measure the Horizontal and vertical angles of Celestial bodies like the Sun and the Moon.

There are two large cylindrical structures open at the top and have some unique designs from inside.

Here is more info if you are interested in how it works.

Here is one of the structures, the southern one is painted bright red and looks amazing.

Rama Yantra outside view

Rama Yantra inside view

Stairs leading into the Rama Yantra

Rama Yantra closeup view

Here is the second structure of the Rama Yantra

A Beautiful Garden

Being one of the major attractions in the city. It is well maintained now and a beautiful garden encompasses all the different yantras.

Here are some of the other photos that I took of the place.

Let me know what are your thoughts about the place. Would you like to visit this place when/if you come to Delhi? Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading...

Namaste 🙏

Stay tuned for more episodes...