Samrat Yantra, an equinox sundial and one of the four instruments at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. , Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Weeks after the Delhi High Court asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to file a status report on the functionality of the equipment at Jantar Mantar, several visitors expressed displeasure over the lack of facilities at the 299-year-old observatory.
Sajith KS, a tourist from Kerala visiting Jantar Mantar for the first time, said it was difficult to appreciate the observatory without having access to the historical and scientific facts of the structures here.
“In the absence of designated guides and pamphlets to throw light on the history and working of the equipment, it is difficult for a tourist like me to understand the importance of this site,” Mr. Sajith said.
The high court, while hearing a contempt petition against the ASI for allegedly non-compliance of an earlier order issued by the court on January 20, had asked the agency to file a status report within four weeks. The next hearing is on April 24.
The ASI had given an undertaking to the High Court in September 2010 to restore the national monument to its original glory and make all its equipment functional. However, the petitioner told the court that the instruments at Jantar Mantar are still not working and things have not changed here in the last 12 years.
equipment, or MachineJantar Mantar observatory includes Samrat Yantra (to measure local time and declination of Sun), Jai Prakash Yantra (to measure movement of Sun and stars), Ram Yantra (to measure altitude and azimuth of celestial objects) . and the Mishra Yantra (for measuring the local time and longitude of a celestial object).
Visitors to this national monument said that without designated guides and detailed literature, they had to rely on signage to understand the significance of the structures here. However, most such markings at the observatory are unreadable, said Paromita Mitra.
The Kolkata tourist, who was visiting the observatory for the second time, was eager to help her daughter uncover the secrets of the three-century-old timekeeper.
“Given the absence of guides and barricading at most of the access points, the journey to Jantar Mantar was of no use to us,” Ms Mitra said. So the two, like most other visitors here, left after walking around the monument and taking a few pictures of it.
Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, Director (Archaeology) and ASI spokesperson told The Hindu that the restoration work of the monument is in progress.
“In 2022, structural repairs of all equipment were carried out. This included plastering and crack repair. Also, barricades were put up to prevent vandalism. The only task we could not complete was to restore the markings, which have deteriorated over time,” said Mr. Swarnakar.
An ASI spokesperson said the restoration work, which began before COVID-19, stalled during the pandemic with the death of several people associated with the project.
“However, we intend to set up another committee consisting of experts from the fields of astronomy, mathematics and architecture to comply with the court order and restore the accurate markings,” said an ASI spokesperson.
While the instruments remain mysterious to an untrained eye, Megha Rajoria, science communicator at the Nehru Planetarium, said the instruments never really stopped telling the time.
“The Samrat Yantra measures time with a two-second accuracy, while the Mishra Yantra measures time with an accuracy of five seconds,” said Ms. Rajoria, who is also a project associate at the Jantar Mantar Research Project, which studies the structures. Studying from last 10 years.