Jantar Mantar is one of the iconic monuments of Delhi. It figures in almost every representational image of the city skyline alongside the Lal Qila, Qutub Minar, and Lotus Temple. It is supposed to mean "instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens", and yet there is hardly anybody who is able to explain how these astronomical instruments were used.
The Jantar Mantar is Delhi is one of the five built by Raja Sawai Jai Singh about 300 years ago. For a city that dates back a few thousand years, this site is relatively new, so it is all the more surprising that there are no oral or written records of the Raja's purpose or intent of building many such sites in North India.
Recently the Hindustan Times seems to have taken some interest in drawing public interest to these monuments. Earlier this year, Aheli Das informed us - "Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory on the road to former glory". More recently, Kabir Firaque wrote a more detailed, engaging piece titled, "Delhi Heritage - The Science of the Observatory - How Jantar Mantar Read the Cosmos"
Alongside the descriptions of the Samrat Yantra, Misra Yantra, Rama Yantra, Jai Prakash Yantra, it was interesting to know that there are instruments here about which we have absolutely no clue - the Niyat Yantra (the four semi-circles), and the "wall of mystery". The task of deciphering these puzzles has become all the more difficult after earlier attempts at 'restoration' plastered and painted over the graduation markings on many of these instruments.
Despite these constraints, some good people labour on - Dr. Aalok Pandya of IGNTU-Amarkantak, Sheh Kesari, a Ghaziabad based amateur astronomer, and a leading expert, Prof. Virendra Pratap Sharma who is now with the University of Wisconsin. Then there is architect Rachana Sankhalker who has written a graphic novel titled, "The Astronomical Observatories of Sawai Jai Singh" (PDF download available for free!).
Lets hope all these efforts will help us add some meaning what seems to most of us like abstract pieces of art spread out in the middle of a park in New Delhi!
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References & Links
Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory on the road to former glory - https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/delhis-jantar-mantar-observatory-on-the-road-to-former-glory-101736533001106.html
