Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory, completed in 1734 by Jai Singh II who gave his name to the city Jaipur. It’s a large outdoor site consisting of many large-scale calculation instruments. The highlight is the world’s largest sundial which is accurate to 2 seconds. The instruments are for both astronomical and astrological purposes, astrology being very important in the Hindu religion.
In total there are nineteen instruments. For the astronomers amongst you, there are instruments for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking location of major stars as the earth orbits around the sun, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides. Phew!
Jai Singh also built Jantar Mantars in four other cities.
This one is for Ronnie (Libra).
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A large site -
Jai Singh decided that the first sundial wasn’t accurate enough (20 seconds), so built a bigger one. This is accurate to 2 seconds.
