Jantra-Mantra : An Astronomical Heritage of India.
Jantra-Mantra : An Astronomical Heritage of India. Introduction Jantra Mantra commanly know as jantar-mantar. Jantra means yantras or instruments and mantra means formulas. Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory and equinoctial sundial that dates to the 18th century. A visit to this place will help you explore old-word astronomy and understand how people of bygone eras determined the time and discovered the location and movements of celestial bodies. Fig: Jantar mantar, Delhi It consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1724 onwards. as he was given by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables. In fact, the king had established five observatories during his reign in the early 18th century and the one in Delhi was the first to be built among these five. The other four observatories are in Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain, and Mathur