Visitors rue lack of facilities at 299­-year­-old Jantar Mantar

  • February 12, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Visitors rue lack of facilities at 299­-year­-old Jantar Mantar

Subject: Art and Culture

Concept:

  • Weeks after the Delhi High Court asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to file a status report on the functionality of instruments at Jantar Mantar, several visitors expressed their displeasure at the lack of facilities in the 299­ year­ old observatory.

Jantar Mantar

  • In the early 18th century, Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five Jantar Mantars in total, in New Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi; they were completed between 1724 and 1735.
  • Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar is a collection of 19 astrological instruments established by Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh II, the city’s founder. In 1734, the monument was completed.
  • It is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2010, with the world’s largest stone sundial.
  • The instruments enable for naked-eye observation of astronomical positions. The observatory is an example of Ptolemaic positional astronomy, which was widely used.

Jantar Mantar, Delhi

  • “Jantar Mantar” means “instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens”.
  • It consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments.
  • The site is one of five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1723 onwards, revising the calendar and astronomical tables.
  • The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets. Some of these purposes nowadays would be classified as astronomy.
  • Completed in 1724, the Delhi Jantar Mantar had decayed considerably by 1857 uprising.
  • The Ram Yantra, the Samrat Yantra, the Jai Prakash Yantra and the Misra Yantra are the distinct instruments of Jantar Mantar.

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II (1693-1744):

  • He was a great warrior and astronomer. He came to power at the age of II on the death of his father Maharaja Bishan Singh.
  • He was feudatory of the Mughals and Aurangazab conferred the title of Sawai to Jai Singh, meaning one and a quarter, a title that all of Jai Singh’s descendants kept.
  • He was trained by the best teachers and scholars in art, science, philosophy and military affairs.
  • Jai Sing’s lineage can be traced back to the Kucchwaha Rajput clan who came to power in the 12th century.
  • He built Astronomy Observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura known as the Jantar Mantar.
  • Jaipur gets its name from him.
Arts and culture Visitors rue lack of facilities at 299­-year­-old Jantar Mantar