Your Future Is Written In The Stars: A Trip To Jantar Mantar

The Jantar Mantar Observatory

For centuries, man has looked to the skies for inspiration, be it the natural beauty of an elegant sunrise, or for divine prophecy in the stars.  For the people of India, astrology is not just a quirky science, but a major facet of life.  They carefully look at the constellations, the phases of the moon, and the positions of the planets, to see when it is an auspicious time for a wedding, or to a have a baby, or to start a long journey.  They have even used these celestial patterns to determine if they should go to war or not.  In the exotic city of Jaipur, you can see to what lengths the maharajahs of old would go to see the future.

     Here at the Jantar Mantar, you can see how important this field was to the ancient maharajahs.  This observatory is full of the most cutting edge astrological technology that 1700's had to offer.  Jai Singh II, the maharajah of Jaipur, had dozens of bizarre looking devices built to study the sky.  This included the worlds largest sun dial, many yantras, which can precisely track the movements of specific constellations and several other tools that can tell time to the millisecond.  Many of these devices are still extremely accurate and are just as effective as most of our current instruments.  Which to me, is completely remarkable. 

     So why all of the hoopla?  Well as I alluded to earlier, if a Maharajah can accurately decipher the patterns that lie within the stars then he will be able to predict the future, and thus if a maharajah knows the future or at least knows if the outcome will be favorable then he can keep his subjects content and continue to rule. He will also know when to marry off his daughters, and when to go to war with other kingdoms.  So you can see why Jai Singh II and many other ancient rulers would crave this all so important knowledge of the future.  So if you are ever in Jaipur, you should checkout this impressive looking observatory and see what the future has in store for you.

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