 Mankind
has been interested in
the mysteries of
fate since
the beginning of
consciousness
and when
he learnt astrology and astronomy, his interest
resulted in the creation of instruments that would
help in making accurate predictions based on the
positions
of the stars and
the planets.
Every ruler ancient
and
modern had
an official astrologer associated with the royal
family apart
from
their
courts. Many also ventured to create more
awareness
among the
general public about these sciences.
Sawai Jai Singh II
was one of them.
The
ruler of Jaipur (1699-1743), he ascended the
throne when he was barely eleven years old, and
the name Sawai was given as
a
token of
respect by Emperor Aurangazeb
– though short in height,
he was equal to Sawai (one-and-a-half times more
than any individual). Jai Singh had twin passions
-
the
arts and the sciences, chiefly astronomy.
 He
was a keen astronomer
and a noble in the Mughal court. Dissatisfied by
the errors of brass and metal astronomical
instruments, he set about correcting the existing
astronomical tables and updating the almanac with
more reliable instruments. He built five Jantar
Mantars, located at Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi,
Ujjain and Mathura. All were built between
1724-1730 AD considered the dark age of Indian
history. All these huge instruments were made in
masonry.
An
incident finds
specific
mention in
history books.
Muhammad Shah wanted to travel and needed an
auspicious moment to do so. This resulted in a
standoff
between
the Hindu and the Muslim astrologers. He tried to
get accurate readings from brass instruments but
all of them
inherent
flaws – they were too small
and
their axes were unstable;
so their centres got displaced. Frustrated,
he sent his mission to Samarkand, where Arab
astronomer Prince Ulugh Beg had built an
observatory in the 15th century
housing
massive
stone instruments. In 1730,
he also sent a mission to Lisbon, to gather all
the latest information on astronomy.
The
mission
came back with a telescope
--
and the
famous astronomer Xavier de Silva.
This
resulted in the building of Jantar Mantar at
Delhi, an observatory where the movements of the
Sun,
Moon
and all other planets would be observed by practising
astronomers and the importance of this science
would be introduced to the general public. It was
built at Dar-al-Khilafat, Shahjahanabad and was
well away from the inhabited area of the city.
Development
brought it
right into
the heart of the
city.
After
its erection in 1724, it remained functional only
for
seven
years.
Observations
were made each day and noted down.
Later,
a chart was created and was called Zij Muhammad
Shahi and was dedicated to the reigning
monarch.
The
original name Yantra (instrument) mantra
(formula) has been corrupted over the ages to
Jantar Mantar. The
Sun
dial dominates the par and is also known as the
Samrat Yantra or Brihat Samrat yantra –
the huge sundial. It is an imposing structure in
yellow on the far right and has a 27m high arm set
at an angle of 27 degrees. The other yantras
in this observatory tracked the various stars and
planets. The Mishra Yantra helped to
determine the longest and shortest days in the
year In December,
one
pillar overshadowed the other and in June,
it did not cast any shadow at all.
This
observatory is the largest and the best preserved
today,
compared to the four others that he built in
Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. The one in
Ujjain is in complete ruins
and
the one in Varanasi is in a state of decay. Jaipur
is the well-preserved
as Raja Ram Singh in 1901 refurbished this
observatory with the help of a British engineer
and lined the gradations on the instrument with
marble, so they would not get worn out. The Jaipur
observatory was meant to collect data on a daily
basis and did. Raja Jai Singh consulted his
guru Pandit Jaganath. This observatory was in
use in the 1940s too. Time was read, important
moments were announced with the firing of a canon
and less important moments announced via a drummer
form the Nahargarh fort.
But
many experts in this field mention that these
observatories fell into disuse because of lack of
thought
on the part of the king – he used the old method
of Ptolemy;
for better results,
he could have made
use
of the
changes made by Copernicus and that his political
leaning (working for Muhammad Shah) affected the
building of this scientific astronomy, for
Muhammad Shah withdrew his patronage.
The
dream of making astronomy more accessible to the
general public to make it easy for them to
understand never took off. But these observatories
are an important part of our scientific heritage.
It will always remain an intrigue and a puzzle to
all observers from the modern generation.
Astronomy or astrology, everyone is intrigued and
want to know what the future holds for them,
but
few make
the effort to create a path that would make it
easy and very scientific to check it out.
BY HARPREET KAUR |
