The Visitors

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II ruled what now is the state of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India from 1699 to 1743. In 1728 he founded the capital city of Jaipur and built the Jantar Mantar (literally "House of Instruments") Observatory there between the years 1728 and 1732..

Jai Prakash Yantra is the name of one of the astronomical instruments. It consists of two hemispheres . This is a photograph of one of them. The surfaces of the hemisphers are made of marble and are inscribed with lines corresponding to celestial latitude and longitude. A small marker is suspended by a wire at the center of each hemisphere. The location of the shadow of the sun permits the celestial coordinates of the sun to be determined from the markings on the hemisphere segments.

The people who visit this historic site cast their own shadows on these historic astronomical instruments.

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