INDIA, JAIPUR: JANTAR MANTAR, THE CITY PALACE OF JAIPUR, AND GOING HOME

 December 30, 2025

Driving through the urban areas of India is always interesting. I find myself wishing I could see these buildings when they were new, and I wonder who has lived in them and what stories they can tell.

The same goes for the people. Their lives are so different than ours, and yet we find common ground when we talk with them. It is hard for me to envision living in their shoes.

In Jaipur, there was beauty of some kind on every corner.

There was also plenty that made us smile, like this anti-drinking-and-driving signage.

We had a new guide, and our first destination of the morning was the Jantar Mantar, an observatory completed in 1734. 

It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. We made sure to "keep our tickets carefully" while we were visiting.

The observatory features 19 very large, very impressive astronomical instruments, the most massive of which is the world's largest stone sundial. It is 90 feet tall and 147 feet long, and according to information onsite, it can give time to an accuracy of 2 seconds. It is so big that it was hard to get a photo of it, especially since we couldn't climb to the top of those stairs to look down at the face.

This is the Laghu Samrat Yantra, or another sundial, but one that can only give the time to an accuracy of 20 seconds rather than 2.

Where the shadow falls on this curved stone indicates the time. Note the divisions marked on the edge of the stone.

Another instrument was this Yantra Raj, or astrolabe, used for measuring time and the position of celestial objects. It is marked with 360 degrees and with 90 altitude circles, as well as with prominent stars, constellations, and celestial circles in their proper places. A "sighting tube" can be affixed to the center. Information onsite says, "The instrument is used for measuring ascendants, altitude, time, and the position of the Sun and that of some other celestial objects in the sky. It can also be used in the computations of celestial positions and their changes. The instrument also measures time from the positions of stars in the night, and that of the Sun in the day."

You have to look closely to see the markings on the discs.

This instrument, which looks like a grapefruit sliced in half, is a Nadivalaya, or equatorial instrument. Its two circular plates face north and south parallel to the Earth's equator, and the rod emerging from the center circle on each plate is parallel to the axis of rotation of the Earth. These also function as yet more sundials, but one for the spring equinox to the autumn equinox and one from the autumn equinox to the spring equinox. 

The Rashivalaya Yantra has 12 structures, one for each of the zodiac signs. Each is set at the perfect angle to face the appropriate constellation for that sign. These are used to make horoscopes and are only found here. Bob and I happen to have the same zodiac sign, so we both posed with the Aries structure.

Here are a couple of views of the whole set:

Do you see what looks like a pool in the center of the red brick patio? It is a Jai Prakash Yantra, or a hemispherical dial.

Here's a better view. Note the metal plate suspended over the bowl, which basically represents an upside-down version of the earth. It is used to plot the exact position of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies. I don't completely understand how it works, but somehow it is the most elaborate and complex instrument on the site and the one by which the others are checked for correctness. Oh, and there are TWO of these bowls. See the second in the background of this photo.

Here is a close-up of the other one:

A close-up of the intricate markings:

This was designed and built over 300 years ago and is WAY beyond my understanding of astronomy. Pretty incredible.

I have no idea what this is, but it reminds me of something the artist Donald Judd might have built in Marfa, Texas.

And what is this? A Chakra Yantra (which translates as "circle instrument"). It finds "the right ascension and declination of a planet or other celestial body observed at night." What is that? No idea. How does it work? Again, no idea, but if you are an astronomer, you might be pretty excited about this!

This is the Rama Yantra, and it "gives the altitude and azimuth of the Sun and of the heavenly bodies."  In other words, it gives locations of the sun and stars.

It really is mind-blowing to think that the scientists in this area understood astronomy to this degree so long ago. These over-sized instruments are certainly on the cutting edge for their time.

Time to move on. Bob and Stan (and Chris and I) headed out for a tour of the area around the Jantar Mantar.

Next to the observatory is the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Museum, part of the City Palace of Jaipur. The complex was built between 1729 and 1732 by the local Maharaja (a title equivalent to "prince"), and it was improved and occupied for the following 200 years or so by his successors. It is still the official residence of the Jaipur royal family (and their 500 servants). Jaipur, by the way, was the capital of the kingdom until 1949. Today it is the capital of the state of Rajasthan.

This building is the Chandra Mahal, one of the oldest buildings in the complex.

A museum has been established in this building. It houses a textile gallery, a collection of arms and armor, paintings, and photography. No photos were allowed inside, so you'll have to take my word for it.

However, I took lots of photos of the beautiful exterior architecture.

Gotta love those elephants! 💖

This is an art gallery where Bob bought a couple of small watercolors.

There's that pink sandstone that gives the city its nickname--"The Pink City."

A series of doors are some of the most beautiful we saw in India.

Well, the time had come to bid farewell to this beautiful city and amazing country. On our way to the airport, we spotted a familiar logo on that building in the distance.

 

Bob had reserved a hotel near the airport. Our plan was to get a few hours of sleep before checking in for an early-morning flight. However, our driver could not find our hotel. At one point he drove down a narrow alley--just wide enough for our van--and discovered it was a dead end. Somehow our driver was able to turn the van around, and he started to drive back out of the alley. However, about a block from the exit to the alley we came nose-to-nose with a huge truck that wanted to go to where we had just driven out of. It was a high-stakes game of chicken, and our driver had no choice but to begin backing up down the alley to the dead end that we had just worked so hard to get out of. The truck agressively kept within a foot or two of our front bumper. Click here to see a short video.

There was a turn out/small parking lot at the end of the alley where the truck finally turned in. Our driver sped out of the alley as fast as he could before anyone else decided to come it, and eventually, after a few phone calls, he found our hotel and dropped us off. When Bob booked it he figured it didn't need to be fancy because we only needed it for a few hours of sleep before our flight, but to say it wasn't fancy is a gross understatement, although I was happy to be welcomed by Ganesh, my favorite of the Hindu gods, and the bed was at least large (but not comfortable).

It was the bathroom, most of all, that made this a 1 star hotel.

It was an everything-in-one-cube bathroom, complete with a toilet with a seat that didn't fit. Lovely.

It was a relief to be dropped off at the Jaipur Airport in the early morning.  That's our driver and his young helper in between Bob and Stan. The helper didn't speak any English, and his boss was not nice to him. Bob and Stan made sure to sneak a tip directly to him.

After a long trip and a very long flight, it sure is nice to see this sign.