Jantar Mantar

Joshua Foer is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. Joshua is a freelance science journalist and the co-founder of the Atlas Obscura: A Compendium of the World's Wonders, Curiosities, and Esoterica, with Dylan Thuras.

Following up on Dylan's post about the Electrum, the world's largest Tesla Coil, I'd like to mention my own favorite super-sized scientific instrument: the Jantar Mantar astronomical complex in Jaipur, India. Constructed almost three centuries ago, its 73-foot-tall sundial is the largest in the world:

In 1728, Sawai Jai Singh II, rajah of Jaipur, dispatched his emissaries across the globe to gather the most accurate astronomical data possible. When they returned, Jai Singh ordered the construction of the Jantar Mantar complex, a monumental astronomical observatory constructed entirely out of stone and based on the astronomical tables of the French mathematician Phillipe de la Hire. Among the stone instruments Jai Singh constructed was the Samrat Yantra, a 73-foot tall sundial which remains the largest ever built. Though indistinguishable in design from other dials of the day, it was far and away the most accurate. Its two-second interval markings are more precise than even la Hire's table.

UPDATE: Uh oh. The picture above is of the Jantar Mantar complex in Delhi. Here's a photo of the one in Jaipur:

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Oy. That second picture, which I nabbed off Wikipedia, may still not be the right Jantar Mantar. This one, I am confident, is definitely the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur. Sorry for the confusion.

[#1 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 4:54 AM]

I wonder if they have a problem with skateboarders? That thing looks pretty tempting....

[#2 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 5:10 AM]

This and several other tourist attractions in Jaipur (eg the Chand Baori well) were featured in the 2006 movie The Fall.

[#3 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 5:21 AM]

am i the only one who, at first glance, assumed this was an awesome skate park?

[#4 posted by Jocelyn Chabanis, June 19, 2009 5:22 AM]

The picture with the post is actually of Delhi's Jantar manthar. Three were built in India, jaipur's being the oldest. But it is of yellow color, not red.

[#5 posted by CyberspaceCowboy, June 19, 2009 5:26 AM]

The Sundial Bridge in Redding California is taller.

Here's the link.

http://www.turtlebay.org/att_sundialBridge.php

[#6 posted by 3.14chan, June 19, 2009 5:33 AM]

Interesting how this looks like moder art.

Also, "jantar" is dinner in portuguese

[#7 posted by coop, June 19, 2009 5:45 AM]

#2 - yes, but the bridge was built as a bridge, the sundial was built as a scientific instrument. The reference to the bridge, is then, spurious.

coop

[#8 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 5:49 AM]

I was in Jaipur in 1993 and stumbled upon the Janta Mantar. It is amazing. There are probably two dozen structures including 12 sundials whose gnomons are pitched to degrees varied for different times of year... one for each month or house, astrologically.

The museum/information center was not open when I was there so I was left mystified for years, until the internets came along.

I took lots of pictures, it was such a Seuss-like playground. Sorry, I have none online. However, there is a great VR site:

http://www.jantarmantar.org/

Go and check it out!

Love.

[#9 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 5:52 AM]

A problem here, I think the Jantar Mantar is in Delhi. The one in Jaipur is much bigger.

[#10 posted by abrinsky, June 19, 2009 6:15 AM]

Both the Delhi and the Jaipur ones are fascinating but the picture certainly is of the Delhi one (there are some pictures of the Jaipur one here from a trip in 2004)

[#11 posted by stevew, June 19, 2009 6:29 AM]

There are modern solar observatories in the US on Sacramento Peak http://nsosp.nso.edu/ and Kitt Peak http://nsokp.nso.edu/ which are huge structures.

The very weird Georgia Guidestones http://www.thegeorgiaguidestones.com/stones.htm "an American Stonehenge. Stonehenge itself in England...

My favorite is Eratosthenes calculating the size of the earth c. 240 BC to within 1% by observing the sun shining down a well on the Tropic of Cancer on the solstice.

[#12 posted by abrinsky, June 19, 2009 6:42 AM]

Here's the link to the photos of the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrinsky/sets/72157605086520219/

[#13 posted by andrewej, June 19, 2009 6:46 AM]

BBC Radio 4's In Our Time show with Melvyn Bragg on the Observatory at Jaipur:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20090219.shtml

[#14 posted by General Specific, June 19, 2009 6:51 AM]

Watch The Fall; there went to some really beautiful locations, including the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur.

[#15 posted by bardfinn, June 19, 2009 7:05 AM]

There's nothing wrong with me that when I first saw the picture, I thought "wicked skate park" -- right?

[#16 posted by Zergonapal, June 19, 2009 7:12 AM]

Absolutely not, I thought the exact same thing until I read the topic.

[#17 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 7:30 AM]

The Jaipur one is grey,

Here is an image of one of the instruments from my visit in April, on my birthday no less.

http://www.outsidecontext.com/2009/04/12/yep-its-definately-my-birthday/

[#18 posted by Takuan, June 19, 2009 7:34 AM]

kiddie playground

[#19 posted by dersk, June 19, 2009 7:35 AM]

#4 - Well, the sundials were built to make astrological calculations, so they're not really scientific instruments per se. The site is really cool - it's got a collection of fifty or so different instruments.

I was there last October; some more pics start on:
http://www.vandivere.net/gallery/v/india/?g2_page=10

[#20 posted by Dave McCaig, June 19, 2009 9:09 AM]

That's still not the right one, actually.

Here's a photo I found online...

http://photos.igougo.com/images/p192239-Jaipur-Jantar_Mantar.jpg

The one with the roof is the big one. It's huge, actually- I was there a couple of years ago. Hard to photograph though, because it's nestled in amongst a pile of other instruments.

The hemispherical sundials were the coolest thing there IMO:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/225/486198993_602d4248a1.jpg?v=0

[#21 posted by Takuan, June 19, 2009 10:03 AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq2_TbTExDA&feature=related

[#22 posted by TK, June 19, 2009 10:07 AM]

Now that's the stairway to heaven!

[#23 posted by Antinous / Moderator, June 19, 2009 12:06 PM]

When I went to the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur, I met a very nice Brahman priest who was hanging around looking to meet English-speaking foreigners to improve his English. He took us around Jaipur for three or four days, took us to see a movie at the outré Raj Mandir movie palace, even invited us to dinner with his family. No money involved except taking him out to dinner once or twice. It's a great place to meet intellectuals and vedic astrologers.

[#24 posted by Franziska, June 19, 2009 12:48 PM]

Good grief, how many gigantic sundials ARE there in the world?

[#25 posted by Anonymous, June 19, 2009 12:49 PM]

#19 That Astrology misinterprets scientific data doesn't make data gathered for astrological purposes any less scientific does it?

Jai Singh was interested in more than just fortune-telling. I am told he also had several Western and Arabic works on mathematics and science translated into Sanskrit but the only one I've tracked down is Rekhaganita which is a translation of Euclids Elements.

[#26 posted by Xopher, June 19, 2009 12:59 PM]

Franziska, the number increases almost without bound as the size defined as 'gigantic' decreases.

[#27 posted by autark, June 19, 2009 5:09 PM]

flickr set from trip to India 2 years ago. the concave bowls with half the sections removed so you can stand down inside them and take close up measurements are pretty cool.

[#28 posted by rbb74, June 19, 2009 5:30 PM]

Skateway to heaven!

[#29 posted by pwr, June 19, 2009 8:02 PM]

Some more photos I took there:

http://www.peteandayse.com/gallery/v/200709trip/1108_jaipur/DSC_0227.JPG.html

Very cool. I want one in my backyard :)

[#30 posted by Anonymous, June 20, 2009 5:40 PM]

The Team Disney building in Orlando, FL contains a sundial in the courtyard easily several times that size. Unfortunately, it's not available for viewing by the public, only Disney employees.

[#31 posted by isewell, June 21, 2009 12:02 AM]

We visited a couple of years ago. It is truly an amazing place. We took a bunch of photos we have online on our website:

http://www.ianandwendy.com/OtherTrips/India/Jaipur/Jantar%20Mantar/slideshow.htm

[#32 posted by Anonymous, June 21, 2009 8:23 AM]

I lived in Jaipur for a year when I was 15 and I thought this place was awesome. Its about 15 minutes off from watch time, which is due to the fact that its calibrated to the sun and not to the time zone.

[#33 posted by Anonymous, June 21, 2009 9:30 PM]

http://www.jantarmantar.org/JaipurTour_2.html
this is a VR of the jaipur jantar mantar...2.1 ruc

[#34 posted by Anonymous, June 21, 2009 10:07 PM]

Both Delhi and Jaipur Jantar Mantar were made by Raja Sawai Jai Singh. I am from Jaipur and have lived in Delhi for 5-6 years. Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is surrounded by other great monuments like Hawamahal and Chandramahal

[#35 posted by Anonymous, June 22, 2009 5:43 AM]

I was in Jaipur 10 days ago. The site has been heavily renovated and doesn't look like the abandoned skate park pictured anymore.

[#36 posted by magritte64, June 22, 2009 8:12 PM]

The Delhi ones look like they've had a coat of paint since I was there in 1996 -- looking good!
Daniel Hudon
(author of "The Bluffer's Guide to the Cosmos")