Jantar Mantar Of Jaipur is a world-famous observatory situated in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This is one of the UNESCO’s heritage sites present in the country India. These old structures are actually astronomical instruments built by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh II. This is another highly crowded tourist attraction near the city palace of Pink city Jaipur.
On 1st August 2010, UNESCO announced to include “Jantar-Mantar” of Jaipur in “World Heritage List”. The main reasons behind this honor are that the exact calculation of weather, local time, planetary constellations, and other astronomical phenomena can still be done through these instruments. Jantar-Mantar, who had got listed in the world heritage, was the Rajasthan’s first and India’s 23rd cultural heritage.
The local Panchang of Jaipur is still based on the calculation of these 289 years old instruments. These instruments were built using Wood, lime, stone, and metal. Among all instruments ‘Samrat Yantra’, ‘Jaiprakash Yantra’, and ‘Ram Yantra’ are most famous. ‘Samrat-Yantra’ is the highest instrument (about 90 feet from the earth) among all of them.
The construction of this world-famous observatory was started by Rajput King Sawai Jai Singh (II) of Aamer, in the year 1728 and which was completed in 1734. King Sawai Jai Singh (II) of Aamer was the founder of Jaipur pink city. Sawai Jai Singh was also an astronomical scientist. Before the creation of this observatory, Sawai Jai Singh had translated the astronomical ancient books to study astronomy.
Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II had built five observatories across the country on the basis of Hindu astronomy. These observatories were built in Jaipur, Delhi, Ujjain, Banaras, and Mathura. This is one of them and this is the largest among them. During the construction of these observatories, he took the help of eminent astronomers of that time.
Firstly Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh (II) constructed the “Samrat Yantra” in Ujjain, after which the Delhi-based Observatory and its ten years later, this observatory was built in Jaipur.
Timings: It remains open on all weekdays between 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Try to avoid visiting in the afternoon during the summers. Visitors need approx. 2 hours to view all the astronomical instruments available inside the observatory.
Best Time To Visit: October to February is the best season to visit this historical place.
The government of Rajasthan charges a different entrance fee for Indian citizens and Foreigners. If you want to hire a guide, then you need to pay extra charges for it. The parking facility is not available here, you can use city palace parking. There is a concession in entry fees for students, but they have to keep their ID cards with them. A student ID card is mandatory. Following are the details of Jantar Mantar Jaipur ticket prices:
By Road: If you are staying in Jaipur then you can hire private auto or taxi to reach there. Otherwise, public transport is also available.
By Train: The nearest railway station is Jaipur junction which is located at the 6 km distance from Jantar Mantar. Tourist which are coming by train can take an auto, taxi, bus, or metro to reach this heritage place.
By Air: Nearest Aiport is Jaipur airport. You will get a private taxi or public transport city bus service to reach here.
Metro services are also available in Jaipur. The nearest metro station is the Chandpole metro station.
Tourist can also enjoy the beautiful light and sound show at this historical place. This show timing is 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Tourist needs to purchase a separate ticket for this show from the ticket counter.
Hawa Mahal: This is the iconic heritage structure of pink city Jaipur. It is located around 500 meters from Jantar Mantar.
City Palace: This was the residence of Rajput King. Nowadays it is one of the most visited tourist attraction located in the pink city. Jantar-Mantar is located opposite to city palace.
Amer Fort: Another 17th-century heritage site located around 8.3 km’s from this unique observatory.