Jantar Mantar | |
---|---|
Vedh Shala | |
Type | Observatory |
Location | Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India |
Nearest city | Ujjain, Indore |
Coordinates | 23°10′17″N75°45′59″E / 23.1713°N 75.7665°E Coordinates: 23°10′17″N75°45′59″E / 23.1713°N 75.7665°E |
Area | Malwa |
Elevation | 75.6 meters |
Founder | Maharaja Jai Singh II |
Built | 1725 |
Original use | Determine Eclipses |
Rebuilt | 1974 |
Restored | 1982 |
Owner | Ujjain Municipal Corporation |
Jantar Mantar or Vedh Shala is located in the holy city of New Ujjain. It is an observatory built by Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1725 which consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. The observatory is one of the five observatories built by Maharaja Jai Singh II when he was governor of Ujjain. [1] [2] [3]
Vedh Shala was constructed with the aim of measuring local time, altitude (of the place) and also to measure declination of the Sun, stars and planets and to determine eclipses. Motion, speed and properties of stars and planets were also recorded using several special instruments. [4]
Jai Singh II was also an astronomer and had deep interest in science and astronomy. In early 18th century, he sent his scholars to several countries to study design, construction and technology of the observatories and also the prevalent technology. The scholars returned with their observations and many manuals on astronomy. Subsequently between 1724 and 1737, Jai Singh II had five observatories constructed in Jaipur, Mathura, New Delhi, Ujjain and in Varanasi. [5]
Geographically, the city of Ujjain is considered the Greenwich of India due to the fact that the first meridian of longitude in the Indian tradition passes through it. Moreover, it sits on the tropic of cancer.
The year 1727 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Ujjain is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative centre of Ujjain district and Ujjain division. It is one of the Hindu pilgrimage centres of Sapta Puri famous for the Kumbh Mela held there every 12 years. The famous temple of Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is located in the center of the city.
Paṇḍita Jagannātha Samrāṭ (1652–1744) was an Indian astronomer and mathematician who served in the court of Jai Singh II of Amber, and was also his guru.
Jai Singh II popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He was born at Amber, the capital of the Kachwaha Rajputs. He became ruler of Amber at the age of 11 after the death of his father, Raja Bishan Singh on 31 December 1699.
The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur is a collection of 19 astronomical instruments built by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The monument was completed in 1734. It features the world's largest stone sundial, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is near City Palace and Hawa Mahal. The instruments allow the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye. The observatory is an example of the Ptolemaic positional astronomy which was shared by many civilizations.
Jantar Mantar is located in the modern city of New Delhi. “Jantar Mantar” it 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. Jai Singh, born in 1688 into a royal Rajput family that ruled the regional kingdom, was born into an era of education that maintained a keen interest in astronomy. There is a plaque fixed on one of the structures in the Jantar Mantar observatory in New Delhi that was placed there in 1910 mistakenly dating the construction of the complex to the year 1710. Later research, though, suggests 1724 as the actual year of construction. Its height is 723 feet (220 m).
Astronomy has long history in Indian subcontinent stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley civilisation or earlier. Astronomy later developed as a discipline of Vedanga, or one of the "auxiliary disciplines" associated with the study of the Vedas, dating 1500 BCE or older. The oldest known text is the Vedanga Jyotisha, dated to 1400–1200 BCE.
Ujjain is an ancient city of central India, in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River.
A Jantar Mantar is an assembly of stone-built astronomical instruments, designed to be used with the naked eye. There were five Jantar Mantars in India, all of them built at the command of the Rajah Jai Singh II, who had a keen interest in mathematics, architecture and astronomy; The largest example is the equinoctial sundial belonging to Jaipur's assembly of instruments, consisting of a gigantic triangular gnomon with the hypotenuse parallel to the Earth's axis. On either side of the gnomon is a quadrant of a circle, parallel to the plane of the equator. The instrument can be used with an accuracy of about 2 seconds by a "skilled observer" to measure the time of day, and the declination of the Sun and the other heavenly bodies. It is the world's largest stone sundial, known as the Vrihat Samrat Yantra. The Jaipur Jantar Mantar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nahargarh Fort stands on the edge of the Aravalli Hills, overlooking the city of Jaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Along with Amer Fort and Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh once formed a strong defence ring for the city. The fort was originally named Sudershangarh, but it became known as Nahargarh, which means 'abode of tigers'. The popular belief is that Nahar here stands for Nahar Singh Bhomia, whose spirit haunted the place and obstructed construction of the fort. Nahar's spirit was pacified by building a temple in his memory within the fort, which thus became known by his name.
Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu was an Indian astronomer and president of the International Astronomical Union. Bappu helped to establish several astronomical institutions in India, including the Vainu Bappu Observatory which is named after him, and he also contributed to the establishment of the modern Indian Institute of Astrophysics. In 1957, he discovered the Wilson–Bappu effect jointly with American astronomer Olin Chaddock Wilson.
The Republic of India uses only one time zone across the whole nation and all its territories, called Indian Standard Time (IST), which equates to UTC+05:30, i.e. five and a half hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). India does not currently observe daylight saving time.
Gyarah Sidi are the remains of the astrological observatory of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The ruins are situated at a stone’s throw from Babur’s Mehtab Bagh, in a field on the banks of the Yamuna river in Agra.
Dashashwamedh Ghat is a main ghat in Varanasi on the Ganga River in Uttar Pradesh. It is located close to Vishwanath Temple. Two Hindu legends are associated with it: according to one, Brahma created it to welcome Shiva, and in another, Brahma sacrificed ten horses during Dasa-Ashwamedha yajna performed here.
The Sapta Puri are the seven holy pilgrimage centres in India. These are the seven holy pilgrimage sites in Hinduism, which bless the pilgrims with moksha.
Mishra Yantra is one of the four unique astronomical instruments of the Jantar Mantar observatory located in New Delhi, India. Each instrument at the Jantar Mantar are separate brilliant architectures constructed based on mathematical observations, and help in calculating different aspects of celestial objects and time. It is widely believed that the Jantar Mantar was constructed in the year 1724. The four instruments of Jantar Mantar are Samrat Yantra, Jay Prakash Yantra, Ram Yantra and the Mishra Yantra.
Jantar Mantar is an observatory built in Varanasi in the year 1737 by Maharaja Jai Singh II of kingdom of Amber. The observatory is one of the five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II.
Jantar Mantar is an equinoctial sundial, consisting a gigantic triangular gnomon with the hypotenuse parallel to the Earth's axis. Jantar Mantar may also refer to;
Nandivada Rathnasree or N. Rathnasree was an Indian astrophysicist, science communicator, and science historian, who was the director of India's Nehru Planetarium for over twenty years. She was responsible for improvements to the planetarium, as well as for researching the use of historical architectural astronomical instruments in India. She is known for her work in science communication.