The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest and one of the best preserved of five observatories constructed by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh all over northern India. For being a reputed astronomer, Jai Singh was commissioned by Emperor Muhammad Shah, to correct the astronomical tables and to confirm the data that was available on the planetary positions. He took nearly seven years to finish the Jantar Mantar. It was restored in 1901 and in 1948 the famous observatory was declared a national monument. The Jantar Mantar in the Pink City consists of multiple structures of stone masonry built in varied and large geometric forms that have caught the attention of artists, architects and art historiographers throughout the world.
During early 18th century, Jaipur was ruled by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II who was also the founder of Jaipur. He was a very brilliant astrologer who loved to study philosophy, astrology and architecture. In 1718, the king desired to build an observatory on renown. So he thoroughly studied the subject of astronomy and then started this task. It took him seven years to complete this task. He constructed five different observatories in North India including Jaipur, New Delhi, Ujjan, Varanasi and Mathura.
If you do not have much time and wind up the trip at the earliest, try taking flights. In fact, the Jaipur airport experienced frequent flight services that are most of the times on time. There are buses and cabs in the airport, so you will not find it difficult to reach the attractions from the airport.
Jantar Mantar in Jaipur remains open from 9:00 Am to 5:00 Pm, on all seven days of the week. Generally, one can see the whole of Jantar Mantar in 1 hours time.
The best time of the day to visit Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is noon. During mid-day, the Sun is vertically above and it is easy to understand the process of interpretation of the readings of each instrument.
