A Visit to Jantar Mantar

Recently, I visited Delhi in search of an ancient relic on Sunday, I found one and I’ve shared my experience here and I had some spare time on my hands. So, obviously I thought I might as well add another location to this trip. I had one friend closeby I haven’t met in ages and figured I’ll see if she was around. Fortunately, after my uncalled call she was delighted to know about my presence and asked to link up and in no time plans were made and the place was decided to go with the core of Delhi, Connaught Place. The place has ample of architectural buildings with a wide range of things to do. It took me a while to reach the spot we had decided, being unfamiliar with the place was not helping either. However, I finally made it. Although, I reached there after quite some time when she was already there, let’s not say how much time it took me to find the spot.

Seeing someone in person is a totally different experience after such a long lockdown period, which has shaken up the world and its entire economy, not to mention forcing us to change our very lifestyles. But amongst all this there are somethings that never change, the relations you have with your beloved friends and family, who have always been there for you. So coming back to our meeting, when I finally saw those smiley eyes and that glowing face once again. She was searching for me from another side of the area. In a bit we shook hands and greeted each other and started talking how things have changed for all of us. We had a great conversation over our past experiences & how time flies by. From some generic moments to some specific movies & novels there are lots of stories to share. It had been ages since we last saw each other and somehow someway from various depictions and movies we found that we both had developed an interest in archaeological sites and heritage properties. Quickly without losing a second, Avantika suggested visiting a nearby archaeological site which is Jantar Mantar. As she lives in Delhi so she knew the place better than me and for that day she was my tour guide. That’s not a bad deal I’d say.

Jantar Mantar is just shy of 1 Km from Cannaught place, after a short walk we were there and nowadays they even have a ticketing system which is both online and offline. As you enter the premise the first structure to the right is “Misra Yantra”. This is that structure which I saw numerous times in my textbooks, a curvature wall structure with standing boundaries at both sides.

Avantika told me this is a set of five instruments that when worked together in harmony determines the exact moment of noon in multiple cities across the globe. Yes, my friends this is a living structure of Indian heritage, the Vedic mathematics. She further elaborated that this place also serves as a place for peaceful protests due to its close proximity to the Parliament. That was quite fascinating to me that this place had such a strong relation with our ancient history and today’s societal affairs.

With further research I found out that there are other observatories like this that are present in the country which were constructed in Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. While four of these landmarks still stand today, the one in Mathura, unfortunately, got destroyed in the 1850s.

Standing in front of these structures takes you back to those moments when they were being built and mesmerizes you with almost magic like Indian science before the age of technology. That, how this ancient mathematics was deeply integrated within our society, planetary observations and zodiac signs.

While roaming she tried to explain me the signboards which were in front of each observatory which were installed there, If I recalled their names were :

Samrat Yantra :

The major sundial in the center of the park, the King among all other instruments. This precise instrument helps in finding the solar time and location of the Sun and its declination.