The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
The Jantar Mantar, in Jaipur, is an astronomical
observation site built in the early 18th century. It includes a set of
some 20 main fixed instruments. They are monumental examples in masonry
of known instruments but which in many cases have specific
characteristics of their own. Designed for the observation of
astronomical positions with the naked eye, they embody several
architectural and instrumental innovations. This is the most
significant, most comprehensive, and the best preserved of India's
historic observatories. It is an expression of the astronomical skills
and cosmological concepts of the court of a scholarly prince at the end
of the Mughal period.