Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Digamsa, a cylindrical instrument for determining the azimuth or relative angular position, of a celestial object, at Jantar Mantar, a monument completed in 1734 built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, founder of Jaipur, featuring 19 architectural astronomical instruments, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. A small gnomon is in the centre of 3 co-axial cylinders, with a string suspended from the centre and aligned to the celestial object, from which a scale can be marked. The instruments allow the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye. They measure time, predict eclipses, track the location of major stars and ascertain the declinations of planets. Jantar Mantar is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Picture by Manuel Cohen

Picture No

13444557

Media ID

45155725

Size

7087px x 4569px (11.5MB)

Credit

Manuel Cohen / Mary Evans

Source

Photograph by Manuel Cohen