Jantar Mantar

Located near the City Palace in the royal city of Jaipur, Jantar Mantar is the largest stone astronomical observatory in the world. Due to its rich cultural, heritage and scientific value, Jantar Mantar in Jaipur has also been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This ancient study boasts of nineteen instruments made of stone and brass and was built by Raja Sawai Jai Singh in 1727-33. The intelligent construction and placement of these instruments allowed observers to note the positions of celestial bodies only with the naked eye. Time has failed to dust off this engineering marvel and it still works as it did in olden times.

The main purpose of building this huge observatory was to study and store information about space and time. The instruments here relate to the Egyptian study of Ptolemaic astronomy and follow three classical astronomical coordinates to track the positions of heavenly bodies—namely the horizon-zone local system, the equatorial system, and the ecliptic system. Another fact that makes this destination unique is that the world's largest solarium is located here. The observatory in Jaipur is a part of the collection of five other such observatories built by Raja Jai ​​Singh, which are located at New Delhi, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. The best experience here is undoubtedly the light and sound show that takes place every evening and the Jantar Mantar is lit up like a firefly!