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Photo: Wikimedia CommonsIn 1724 a maharaja built stone instruments to track the sky, predict eclipses and measure time, one of five observatories he raised across northern India.
An 18th-century astronomical observatory built in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, one of five such Jantar Mantars he constructed across northern India. Its collection of large masonry instruments, including the towering Samrat Yantra sundial, were designed to track celestial positions, predict eclipses and measure time with remarkable precision for their era. The observatory reflects the fusion of Indian and Islamic astronomical traditions under Jai Singh's patronage. It remains a rare surviving example of pre-telescopic astronomical architecture.
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108 stone steps lead down to what was once a deep water tank, between walls built to pull your eye toward the water.
Feroz Shah Tughlaq had an Ashokan pillar moved here, and it still stands among the ruins of his fortress.
It was a widow's gift. Empress Bega Begum built it in 1565 for the husband she lost, the first garden-tomb in India and the blueprint for the Taj Mahal.