JANTAR MANTAR

Jantar Mantar is a collection

of architectural astronomical
instruments, built by Sawai Jai
Singh in the early 18th century.
Jantar Mantar is combination of
Religion, Science and Art. The
name Jantar Mantar is derived
from Sanskrit Term Yantra
(Instruments) and Mantras
( Formula in this Context
Calculation) Yantra further
changed to Jantar . So Jantar
Mantar translated as Magical
Calculations. Jantar Mantar of
Jaipur was Part of five
Observatories built in New Delhi,
Ujjain, Varanasi, Matura and
Jaipur. The Jantar Mantar of
jaipur is biggest.

The Observatory Consists of

many Giant geometric devices
for measuring time, predicting
eclipses, tracking stars and so
on. . . At old time local
astronomers use it to predict the
weather for farmers, announcing
eclipses and the arrival of
monsoons. The Instruments here
can tell the time with the
accuracy of 2 seconds..
1. Laghu Samrat Yantra (small
sun-dial)

used for time calculation. From

one side wall is inclined at an
angle of 27 which is equivalent
to latitude of jaipur. The left for
time in the morning and right for
afternoon. Both the quadrants
are divided by 6 hrs., 60 min.
and each minute by 60 seconds.
With the help of the shadow of
the gnomon which falls on one
of the quadrants , we find out
the time of jaipur.

Ram Yantra Altitude

instrument

This is an instrument which

helps astronomers to find out
the zenith distance and the
altitude of the sun. It gives us
direct readings. Consists of two
circular stone building. If we
unite them together, it becomes
one instrument. A prependicular
rod is fixed at center of building.
Twelve stone triangles are fixed
above the ground. These
triangular stone slabs are
graduated from 90 degree to 45
degree, while 45 to 0 degree the
graduations are on the circular
wall. This is an instrument by
which we come to know the
movement of stars.

Nadivalaya Yantra Dakshin

Gola (equatorial instrument
southern hemisphere)

21st March and 22nd Sept are

days when sun reaches an
equinox(directly above equator),
21st march-23rd of sept. the Sun
is in northern hemisphere and
23rd sept. - 21st March, the sun
is in southern hemispehere. The
position of sun is calculated by
Narivalya Yantra.
The IST can also be calculated
by this yantra. Local solar time
is read off from the angular

position of the gnomon's shadow

on the dial. From the faint
shadow of the gnomon the local
time is about 11:00.
There are two paired
instruments, one for use in
winter and the other for use in
summer.
Rashivalaya Yantra (zodiac
sign instrument)

Their purpose is to calculate

constellation time rather than
solar time. The advantage of
using sidereal coordinates is that
they depend only on the annual
orbit of the earth around the
sun, not on the earth's daily
rotation.
Sidereal time is measured
relative to the path of earth's
orbit across the heavens. The
path is divided into 12 parts,
each part named after a
constellation that is located
there. The 12 constellations are
called the "Zodiac.
In the Rashivalaya Yantras, each
of the 12 instruments is
associated with one of the 12
signs of the zodiac.

For any given instrument, say

"Pisces", the curved scale of that
instrument lines up with the
(1/12) part of the earths path
that contains the constellation
Pisces. The twelve instruments
actually act as a single
instrument that covers the
entire earths path.
To make an observation, first
choose the instrument that
covers the constellation
currently occupied by the sun
(the Jai Prakash yantra will tell
you). Then, the position of the
gnomon's shadow on the scale
gives the sidereal time - that is,
the celestial longitude of the sun
in sidereal coordinates.
Jai Praksh Yantra

A map of the visible heavens is

inscribed on the inner surface of
the bowls. The shadow of a
small ring, suspended from cross
wires, projects the position of
the sun onto the inscribed
celestial map.

The ring is visible (barely) in this

photograph.
The instrument is made more
useful by cutting out sections in
alternation (like the Ram Yantra),
to allow an observer to make
measurements from the inside.
At night, an observer could sight
through the ring to discover the
position of any star or planet of
interest.
Chakra Yantra (circle
instrument)

Two circular instruments framed

on stone pillars, made of seven
alloys, so that seasons do not
affect the readings, and have
graduated scales from 0 to 360
degree. A hole in the middle to
place another instrument for
observations. The metallic
instruments are free to revolve
paralel to earth's axis, and
points towards the pole.
To find the Meridian Pass Time
and declinition of a particular

planet, a metallic tube whose

extremes are touching the
graduated circle, is placed in the
middle hole of the instrument.
Through this tube we see the
particular celestial object , and
the position on the southern disc
will be indicating Meridian Pass
Time.
Brihat Samrat Yantra (large
sun-dial). In this sun-dial, local
time can be known accurately
upto 2 seconds. The reason they
didnt think of constructing one
where the time could be
accurately calculated upto 1
second is because human eye
cannot see such minor change.
Hence, it would be useless to do

so. This is the largest sun-dial.

The gnomon is 90 feet high and

has recess to wall to protect
from. The gnomon is right
angled wall and the hypotenuse
has steps to climb up. The
hypotenuse has also a scale to
find out the altitude of the sun.
The hypotenuse points towards
the pole On either side of the
pole is masonary quadrant. the

centres of which lie on the edge

of gnomon. The edge of
quadrants are graduated in
hours, minutes and seconds. In
this scale one minute has been
divided to the extent of 30 parts,
this way it is accurate upto 2
seconds.
Yantra Raj (the astrolabe)

It is a circular masonry disc of 7

alloys, so that it remains the
same size. The hole in the
center is the position of Pole
Star. The latitude of Jaipur is 27
degree. The outer circle is
graduated in 24 hours of 6
fractions each. The inner circle
has 360 degrees, each of 6 subdivisions. The most important

planets are marked in outer

circle at their corresponding
position in the sky.
By placing a separate disc in the
hole(which is graduated from 0
degree to 180 degree), of
instrument, we can calculate the
positions of various planets and
dividing by time interval, the
speed of rotation of a particular
planet is calculated .