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.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
Le Jantar Mantar de Jaipur est un site d’observation astronomique construit au début du XVIIIe siècle. Il comprend un ensemble d’une vingtaine d’instruments fixes. Edifiés en maçonnerie, ce sont des exemplaires monumentaux d’instruments connus mais souvent aux caractéristiques particulières. Destinés à des observations d’astronomie à l’œil nu, ils comportent plusieurs innovations architecturales et instrumentales. C’est l’ensemble le plus significatif, le plus complet et le mieux conservé des observatoires anciens de l’Inde. Il exprime les compétences astronomiques et les conceptions cosmologiques acquises dans l’entourage d’un prince savant à la fin de l’époque moghole.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
جانتار مانتار، في مدينة جانيبور
إن جانتار مانتار، في مدينة جانيبور، هو موقع للرصد الفلكي أنشئ في بداية القرن الثامن عشر. ويشمل هذا الموقع مجموعة مؤلفة من نحو عشرين آلة ثابتة. وتضم هذه الآلات المبنية عدة ابتكارات معمارية وآلية. ويُعتبر الموقع أهم وأكمل مجموعة من المراصد القديمة تمت المحافظة عليها جيداً في الهند. وهو يشهد على الكفاءات الفلكية والتصورات الكونية التي اكتسبتها حاشية أمير علّامة هو ساواي جاي سينغ الثاني، وذلك في نهاية الحِقبة المغولية. كما أن هذا الموقع يُعد مجالاً لتلاقي الثقافات الإسلامية والهندية فيما بين علماء الفلك والمنجمين.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
简塔•曼塔天文台
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Джантар Мантар
Джантар Мантар в Джайпуре — это астрономическая обсерватория, построенная в начале восемнадцатого века. Она включает около двадцати стационарных инструментов наблюдения. Сделанные из кирпича, ее инструменты обладают непреходящей итсорической ценностью. Сконструированные для астрономических наблюдений невооруженным глазом, они отличаются множеством технических и архитектурных новшеств. Все это делает ее самой мощной, полной и наиболее сохранившейся из старинных обсерваторий Индии. Она свидетельствует о высоком уровне развития астрономической науки и знаниях в области космологии, получивших распространение в окружении просвещенного князя Савай Джай Сингх II, правившего в конце эпохи Великих Моголов.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Jantar Mantar de Jaipur
Construido a principios del siglo XVIII, el Jantar Mantar de Jaipur es un observatorio astronómico integrado por unos veinte instrumentos en obra de albañilería que fueron innovadores en su tiempo, tanto en el plano arquitectónico como técnico. Destinados a observaciones astronómicas a simple vista, comportan varias innovaciones arquitectónicas e instrumentales. Se trata del conjunto de observatorios antiguos más significativo, más completo y mejor conservado de la India. El Jantar Mantar es un fiel reflejo de las concepciones cosmológicas y los conocimientos astronómicos de los sabios que agrupó en torno un marajá ilustrado que vivió a finales de la era mogol.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
ジャイプールにあるジャンタール・マンタール
Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
De Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is een astronomische observatieplaats, gebouwd aan het begin van de 18e eeuw. De plek bevat een set van ongeveer 20 belangrijke, stationaire observatie-instrumenten. Het gaat hier om monumentale voorbeelden van metselwerk van bekende instrumenten, met in veel gevallen specifieke eigenschappen. De instrumenten belichamen een aantal architectonische en instrumentale innovaties omdat ze ontworpen waren voor observatie van astronomische posities met het blote oog. Jantar Mantar is het meest uitgebreide en best bewaarde observatorium van alle historische observatoria in India. Het toont de astronomische vaardigheden en kosmologische concepten aan het hof van een academische prins aan het einde van de Mogol periode.
जंतर मंतर, जयपुर
जयपुर में जंतर मंतर 18 वीं शताब्दी की शुरुआत में बनाया गया एक खगोलीय प्रेक्षण स्थल है। इसमें लगभग 20 मुख्य उपकरणों का एक सेट शामिल है। वे ज्ञात उपकरणों की राजगीरी के स्मारक हैं , लेकिन कई मामलों में उनके अपने स्वयं के विशिष्ट लक्षण भी हैं। इन्हें नग्न आंखों से खगोलीय अवस्थाओं के अवलोकन के लिए बनाया गया है , जिनमे कई स्थापत्य और वाद्य नवाचारों को अपनाया गया है। यह भारत की ऐतिहासिक वेधशालाओं में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण , सबसे व्यापक और सबसे अच्छी तरह से संरक्षित है। यह मुगल काल के अंत में एक विद्वान प्रिंस के दरबार के खगोलीय कौशल और ब्रह्मांड संबंधी अवधारणाओं की अभिव्यक्ति है।
Brihat Samrat Yantra – with repaired plaster and lime wash (khamira) © DRONAH
Outstanding Universal Value
The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. It includes a set of some twenty main fixed instruments. They are monumental examples in masonry of known instruments but which in many cases have specific characteristics of their own. The Jantar Mantar is an expression of the astronomical skills and cosmological concepts of the court of a scholarly prince at the end of the Mughal period.
The Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur constitutes the most significant and best preserved set of fixed monumental instruments built in India in the first half of the 18th century; some of them are the largest ever built in their categories. Designed for the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye, they embody several architectural and instrumental innovations. The observatory forms part of a tradition of Ptolemaic positional astronomy which was shared by many civilizations. It contributed by this type of observation to the completion of the astronomical tables of Zij. It is a late and ultimate monumental culmination of this tradition.
Through the impetus of its creator, the prince Jai Singh II, the observatory was a meeting point for different scientific cultures, and gave rise to widespread social practices linked to cosmology. It was also a symbol of royal authority, through its urban dimensions, its control of time, and its rational and astrological forecasting capacities. The observatory is the monumental embodiment of the coming together of needs which were at the same time political, scientific, and religious.
Criterion (iii): The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is an outstanding example of the coming together of observation of the universe, society and beliefs. It provides an outstanding testimony of the ultimate culmination of the scientific and technical conceptions of the great observatory devised in the Medieval world. It bears witness to very ancient cosmological, astronomical and scientific traditions shared by a major set of Western, Middle Eastern, Asian and African religions, over a period of more than fifteen centuries.
Criterion (iv): The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is an outstanding example of a very comprehensive set of astronomical instruments, in the heart of a royal capital at the end of the Mughal period in India. Several instruments are impressive in their dimensions, and some are the largest ever built in their category.
Integrity and authenticity
The observatory of Jantar Mantar in Jaipur has been affected by its outdoor situation in a tropical area, and then by its temporary abandonment in the 19th century, which has resulted in frequent maintenance interventions and then various restorations over a period of more than a century. Nevertheless, the general integrity of the site has been essentially maintained and partially restored.
On the other hand, establishing the authenticity of each individual instrument is more complex, as a result of the many interventions which have taken place. While authenticity is generally unquestionable with regard to the astronomical function, it is more difficult to establish with regard to plasters, instrument graduations, some architectural interpretations and the immediate landscape environment of elements of the property.
Protection and management measures
The Jantar Mantar is protected under the Rajasthan Monuments Archaeological Site and Antiquities Act, 1961, under Sections 3 and 4. It was designated a monument of national importance in 1968.
The main challenges for the property, which could potentially represent a threat, are controlling the development of tourism, and allowing for urban development in the immediate vicinity of the Jantar Mantar. Major projects to upgrade the district and modify traffic have been announced, and these may affect the buffer zone, and more generally the landscape and cultural environment of the property. It is in particular necessary to specify the measures taken to protect the buffer zone, and to include these measures in the upcoming Master Plan of the municipality of Jaipur. The system for the management of the property is appropriate, provided that it includes a genuinely overarching management body and provided that the Management Plan is promulgated. Furthermore, it is necessary to strengthen the scientific expertise of the bodies in charge of managing the property.
Links
- Department of Archaeology & Museums (Government of Rajasthan)
- Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy
