Jantar Mantar (Man Mahal) of Varanasi

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, Founder King of the Jaipur city, established five Yantra Mantra (the instrument and formula) or Jantar Mantar in five cities of West Central India between 1727 and 1734 at Jaipur, Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi. Most famous being the ones at Jaipur and Delhi; very few people know about the other three and fewer have even visited them.

Graffiti at Rajendra Prasad Ghat

I came to know about Varanasi’s own Jantar Mantar few years ago, when wandering at Ghat we noticed a building near the vegetable market at Rajendra Prasad Ghat. This Ghat is next to the famous Dashaswamedh Ghat of the city. The building is locally known as Man Mahal or Man Mandir (25.307699, 83.010807), and the adjacent ghat as man Mandir Ghat.. As per ASI, it was erected by the Maharaja Man Singh of Amber in around 1600 AD. Later Maharaja Savai Jai Sigh II (1699-1743 AD) constructed the observatory on the terrace of the palace. This observatory is not as big as those at Delhi or Jaipur, but has got some six astronomical instruments.

Dashaswamedh Ghat

Dashaswamedh Ghat is the one the most revered Ghats of Varanasi, and is situated near the Godowlia and the old Vishwanath Temple; and is easily accessible from the Varanasi Railway station or Airport. Archaeological Survey of India maintains the Mahal. The panoramic view of Ghats of Banaras from the top terrace of the Mahal is an additional benefit to visit the place.

Following is the photo-post on the Man Mahal or Jantar Mantar of Varanasi:

Samrat Yantra

Samrat Yantra – Instrument to find Time, Declination and Hour angle of the heavenly bodies

Laghu Samrat Yantra – Another Instrument to find Time, Declination and Hour angle of the heavenly bodies

Dakshinobiti Yantra

Dakshinobiti Yantra – To know the Altitude of the heavenly bodies when on the meridian

Chakra Yantra

Chakra Yantra - For measuring Declination of Sun, Moon and Stars and their distance in Time (Hour angle) for the meridian

Digansa Yantra

Digansa Yantra- Azimuth of heavenly bodies

Narivalaya Dakshin and Uttar Gola

Narivalaya Dakshin and Uttar Gola - To know whether heavenly bodies are in Northern or Southern hemisphere, and to know the time.

A Panoramic View of Ghats on Ganga at Banaras/Varanasi

While studying more about the Jantar Mantar, I came across a beautiful site maintained by Barry Perlus, Professor of Art at Cornell University. This site provides a mesmerizing virtual tour of Jantar Mantar. To visit click here.

Banned Indian Books

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth... Few days back when I came to know about a book on an Indian Business Barron on the Banned Indian Books’ List, the first thing that came in my mind were the lines from Tagore . What an irony, we live in a country, whose forefathers have dreamt about a nation without fear, about a nation with right to speech, right to knowledge; and where the Government enjoys the “privilege” to “freely” ban the books, censor what it feels offensive! Wikipedia describes Banned books as the books whose free access is not permitted. Further it says that the practice of banning books is just another form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations. In our country, banning books have got its history since the British rule days. In fact, few of the Books

Trekking Ghansoli Gawli Dev (Parsik) Hill

It’s been there for geological ages, we have been looking at it for last about 4years and I have been planning to trek it since a long time. Finally, few weeks back, we trekked the Ghansoli Hill. Ghansoli Hill is located at the eastern boundary of Ghansoli town, behind our office complex at RCP. The hill or better hillock is a part of small range that separates Kalyan and Navi Mumbai towns. A search on Google Map returns with a name Parsik Hill for it, though there is one more rather famous Parsik Hill in Navi Mumbai. We also found a NewsArticle , that talks about NMMC plans to develop Nature Awareness Centre at this hills and calls it Gawli Dev Hill. Here, we would be calling it Ghansoli Hill . I asked my colleague about it and he readily agreed. The very next Sunday we did it with another friend. We weren't aware of the route. All we knew is that a Central Road runs along the western edge of the hill and can be reached through the Vashi-Mhape road. We later found that there’

Riders of the Nation of a Billion - Dimensions and Horizons

Incidentally I wrote a post of my tranformation from just around the corner corporate junkie into a Rider (for sure, still gradually) few days ago. Now, here are the Indibloggers with a Contest for the Bikers of the Nation with Castrol guys . Evolving Biker Code of the Nation When you look at the scenario of Biking in a general sense, you would be attracted by the road-rowdies and rookies who ride to spread nuisance and are mostly acknowledged for their deeds by the newspaper. Hooligans may be the right word. But, once you get involved with the passion, you would be able to see how the passion of Biking, or rather Riding, is evolving in the country where 2-wheelers over-power 4-wheelers by scores of galactic height, but have never earned respect on highways just coz they are the smallest-speeding machine there! I would try to let you through the Indian Riders tale, so that you be able to appreciate how the riders of the Country are working, though in a segregative way

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