It was one of the hottest days I have experienced :115 degrees Fahrenheit. Anjula and I sat at a table about as big as a dinner plate drinking heavily iced lime juice, dosed with sugar, salt and soda water. Around us were surreal structures, all very neat and precise, which seemed so very un-Indian to me at the time. Everything I saw up until I visited Jaipur was more chaotic than precise; not this place. I understood, then, how the nation could have produced so many fine engineers.

The Jantar Mantar monument ( Bing’s Opening Page photo on Eclipse Day–but they made a mistake: Jantar Mantar is in Jaipur NOT New Delhi) is a courtyard filled with about six or seven constructions that allow observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye. The structures–spherical, inclined, round– are made of masonry, stone and brass  that follow design principles of ancient Hindu Sanskrit texts.  Anjula told me Astrology is very important in Hindu society for investing money and for arranging marriages.

Built in 1774 these unusual “Astrological Engineering’ structures measure passage of time and the movement of planets and stars.

A huge sundial tells the time in Jaipur local time. It was quite amazing to watch time pass via a shadow; it moved a hand’s width every minute The Giant Sundial, known as the  Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument) is one of the world’s largest time measuring devices.

Side view of the Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument) for calibrating time by sun shadow
Inside of Sundail is a sphere. Sides of marble covered with delicate calibration lines
Built in 1774 these unusual “Astrological Engineering’ structures measure passage of time and the movement of planets and stars.