Jantar Mantar of Jaipur To Be World Heritage Site of UNESCO

Jantar Mantar - An Astronomy Observatory to be included in UNESCO

Jaipur’s historic astronomical observatory, Jantar Mantar, is likely to be included in Unesco’s list of World Heritage Sites soon. After Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, it would be the second site from Rajasthan to make it to the heritage list.

The government of India has sent the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to the UNESCO to include Jantar Mantar in the world heritage site lists.

According to sources the Jantar Mantar, is already in the tentative list of Unesco, and will finally get the heritage status next year after a visit by Unesco officials from Paris before the end of this year. This move to expedite the approval has also come in the wake of 2009 being declared as the “International Year of Astronomy” at the 33rd session of Unesco General Conference.

Other Famous Astronomical Observatories of the India

The other astronomical observatories of the country which are included in the heritage list are the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the Man Singh Observatory in Varanasi and the Jantar Mantar, Ujjain.

A Quick Insight on Jantar Mantar of Jaipur

The Jantar Mantar Observatories built by Sawai Jai Singh in 1728 represents the pre-telescopic masonry type observatories of the medieval period, marking the last and the most ambitious attempt of creating such architectural ensembles for observational astronomy at a large scale.

Remarkable Collection of Architectural Astronomical Instruments

At first glance, this famous Astronomical monument of Jaipur appears to be a curious if somewhat compelling collection of sculptures. In fact, each construction has a specific purpose, for example measuring the positions of the stars, altitude and azimuth, and calculating eclipses.

Big Sundial - Most Impressive Structure

Over 90 feet in height, the big sundial (Brihat Samrat Yantra) is the most impressive and the largest structure. The ramp that forms the indicator is orientated to the north at 27 degrees, gradient equivalent to the latitude of Jaipur. Thus the ramp points exactly to the Celestial North Pole.

The wing shaped scales are made of marble as the side edges of the indicator are covered with delicate measuring divisions. According to the size and architectural precision, the shadow shows the local time accurate within four minutes.

Jantar Mantar is wholly constructed with stone and marblewas declared a national monument in 1948.

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