JANTAR MANTAR - JAIPUR
Famous As: Astronomical Observatory
Built In: 1716 AD
Built By: Sawai Jai Singh II
At the entrance to the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, the
'Yantralaya' of Sawai Jai Singh II, the last great classical astronomer in
India. The modernistic structures known as 'Yantras' are the unique
creations of this astronomer-king designed by him and built by experts to
observe the movements of sun, moon, planets and the stars. 
This is the largest of five observatories founded by him in 1716 AD. The
others are at Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura & Varanasi. Its massive masonry
instruments are of an extraordinary precision & can still be used to
measure local time, the sun's declination, azimuth & altitude, the
declination of fixed stars & planets & also to determine the time
of an eclipse of the sun.
