Jantar Mantar Vedhshala Ujjain

Vital Information for Visitors

Address:

Jantar Mantar Vedhshala, Chintaman Rd, Jabsinghpura, Ujjain, M.P.

Open & Close:

Open on all days
09:00 AM to 05:00 PM

Entry Fees:

Foreigner - INR 250/- pp
Indian - INR 40/- pp

Duration:

30 minutes – 1 hour

Significance:

Oldest observatory in India and still operational.

Ujjain has been a center of art, culture and learning since time immemorial. The city is known for its notable contribution to the field of astronomy. Several famous books like the Surya Siddhanta (by Aryabhatta) and the Panch Siddhanta (Varahmihir) were written in Ujjain. The location of Ujjain too is of immense significance in the field of astronomy & geography. Its importance can be understood by the fact that Ujjain enjoyed the reputation of being India’s Greenwich since fourth century BC. Indian astronomers claim that the Tropic of Cancer passes through Ujjain. It is also the fist meridian of longitude of the Hindu geographers. In early eighteenth century, Sawai Raja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, Rajasthan, built a solar observatory in Ujjain. Raja Jai Singh was not only known for his bravery but also for scholarly achievements. He translated the works of Ptolemy and Euclid into Sanskrit from Arabic. This observatory is known as Vedhshala or Jantar Mantar. The term Jantar Mantar has been derived from two words of Sanskrit – Yantra (instruments) & Mantra (consult or calculate). Also known as Vedhshala in Ujjaain, the observatory is stone-built cluster of instruments like Samrat Yantra, Ram Yantra etc to observe planetary positions and movements. Jantar Mantar is one of the major tourist attractions in Ujjain.

Sawai Raja Jai Singh II had built solar observatories at five places in India – Ujjain, Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi and Mathura. The observatory in Ujjain, popularly known as Vedhshala and built between 1723 AD to 1730 AD, is the oldest one and still operational. The observatory (Jantar Manar) serves as authentic instrument to carry out various astronomical studies by Department of Education and every year an ephemeris (Panchang - पंचांग) is published. There is a small planetarium and a telescope to observe the moon, Mars, Jupiter and their satellites. The observatory is also used for weather forecasts. Madhav Rao Scindia, the Maratha Maharaja of Gwalior, renovated it in 1923 AD.

Among the observatories built by Raja Jai Singh, the observatory of Ujjain has great importance in the period of ancient practical astronomy. The Ujjain city was on the Tropic of Cancer. While the positions of Kashi ( Varanasi), Delhi, Jaipur and Mathura cities were towards the north from Tropic of Cancer and still they are in the same direction. On the other hand the position of Ujjain has been changed due to slow diminution every year in the maximum obliquity of the Ecliptic, resulting that the sun goes towards the north from the zenith of the Ujjain. Jantar Mantar was earlier called as Yantra Mandir. It has fascinating masonry instruments which are still in use.