I am excited to be back in the darkroom printing photographs of the “Jantar Mantars” in Jaipur and Dehli that I had taken in 1995 and 2001 and never printed.
Between 1727 and 1734, the Maharajah Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five astronomical observatories in west central India as he was particularly interested in learning about the sky above his head. These observatories or “Jantar Mantars”, incorporate multiple structures with striking combinations of geometric forms, each with a specialized function for astronomical measurement. The name is derived from Jantar (instrument) and Mantar (formula or calculation). The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets.
Here are the first photographs so you can discover these amazing structures.
