The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

The story of this place

Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, was more than a king. He was a serious scholar of mathematics and astronomy. In the early 18th century he built five observatories across north India, at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. The one at Jaipur, completed by 1734, was the largest of them all, and UNESCO calls it the most significant and best preserved of India's historic observatories. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2010.

The observatory has around twenty fixed instruments, all built in stone and masonry. Every one of them was designed for observing the sky with the naked eye, without any telescope. With these instruments the king's astronomers measured time, predicted eclipses, tracked the positions of the stars and prepared astronomical tables.

What makes this place special is the meeting of traditions. Jai Singh studied Hindu, Islamic and European astronomy, and brought scholars of different schools together at his court. The instruments you see are the result of that exchange, built at grand scale so that readings would be more accurate. The calculations made here also served the making of the Hindu panchang, the calendar that still guides festival dates and muhurats in every Indian home.

What you will see

The first thing that pulls your eye is the Samrat Yantra, the supreme instrument. It is a sundial about 27 metres tall, the largest of its kind in the world, and it tells the time to an accuracy of about two seconds. Its long sloping arm points to the pole star, angled at 27 degrees, which is the latitude of Jaipur. Stand near the curved marble scales on either side and you can actually watch the edge of the shadow creep along the markings. Children find this magical, and honestly, so do adults.

Around it are instruments of many shapes. The Jai Prakash Yantra is a pair of marble bowls sunk into the ground, with the map of the heavens carved inside them. The Rashivalaya is a set of twelve separate instruments, one for each rashi of the zodiac, and pandits and astrologers still take a special interest in it. There are instruments to find the position of a star, the moment of noon, and the declination of the sun through the year.

One honest word from us. Without a guide, the Jantar Mantar looks like a park of odd stone shapes, and many visitors walk out in twenty minutes having understood nothing. With a licensed guide or the audio guide, the same shapes come alive, and you will find yourself checking the sundial against your own watch. Please do not skip the guide here.

Best time to visit

October to March is the pleasant season in Jaipur, when you can walk the open observatory in comfort. April to June is very hot, and the site has little shade, so in summer come as early in the morning as you can.

One special point about this monument: the instruments need sunshine to work. On a cloudy day the sundials sleep. If your dates allow, choose a clear day, and try to be there when the sun is reasonably high, from late morning onwards, because that is when the shadows read sharp and your guide can demonstrate the instruments properly. The observatory is open every day, generally from about 9 in the morning to late afternoon, and timings can change, so please check the current schedule on the Rajasthan tourism website or with your consultant.

How to reach

The Jantar Mantar sits inside the old walled city of Jaipur, right next to the City Palace and a short walk from the Hawa Mahal. If you are staying anywhere in Jaipur, an auto or taxi will drop you at the gate.

Jaipur is one of the easiest cities in India to reach. The airport has flights from all major Indian cities, and Jaipur Junction is a major railway station with fast trains from Delhi. By road, Delhi to Jaipur is about 270 km on a good highway, roughly 5 to 6 hours. Most of our Golden Triangle journeys of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur include the Jantar Mantar on the Jaipur sightseeing day, along with the City Palace, Hawa Mahal and Amber Fort.

Tips from our travel experts

Keep 60 to 90 minutes for the visit, and club it with the City Palace next door and the Hawa Mahal nearby, so that one morning covers the heart of the walled city. There is an entry fee, and a composite ticket covering several Jaipur monuments is usually available, so please check the current rates and options on the official website or ask your consultant.

Carry a cap and water, because the observatory is an open courtyard with strong sun. If you are travelling with children who like science, give this place extra time; it teaches more astronomy in one hour than a classroom does in a month. And remember that the whole walled city of Jaipur is itself a World Heritage Site, so as you walk out through the bazaars, you are still inside living heritage.