I arrived in Jaipur, India this morning. I came to see the Jantar Mantar (say yantar mantr) site, the astronomical buildings built by Maharaja Jai Singh II, and his successors, between 1727 and 1734. They have been a fascination of mine for many years, ever since I learned of them. Nothing compares to walking around the buildings and marveling at their accuracy and construction though.
“The city of Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Jai Singh II, the Raja of Amer who ruled from 1699 to 1743. He planned to shift his capital from Amer, 11 kilometres (7 mi) to Jaipur to accommodate the growing population and increasing scarcity of water. Jai Singh consulted several books on architecture and architects while planning the layout of Jaipur. Under the architectural guidance of Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, Jaipur was planned based on the principles of Vastu shastra and Shilpa Shastra. The construction of the city began in 1726 and took four years to complete the major roads, offices, and palaces. The city was divided into nine blocks, two of which contained the state buildings and palaces, with the remaining seven allotted to the public. Huge ramparts were built, pierced by seven fortified gates.” ~Wikipedia
I did plenty of research before I came and it has paid off because I found the best tour guide Farooq Khan. Here’s a picture of him from the website…
My Tour Guide Farooq Khan While I’m in Jaipur!
I’ll get a better picture of him in action in the next few days! We only just perused the site and got to chatting a bit today. The serious work begins in the morning!
It’s a lot cooler than I expected with a high of 71 Fahrenheit and slightly overcast from what I can tell here…
Weather predicted for Jaipur, India 1/31/20
I will be here for a few months so I have plenty of time to really understand the science behind these buildings and review them properly. This is just the introduction so come back every day for more about this amazing site!
