The significance of Jantar Mantar has evolved from being the city’s oldest astronomical observatory to being the official ‘protest’ venue for all Indians. With its close proximity to Parliament, this eighteenth century monument which represents the nation’s scientific heritage, has also been serving the people as a site to make their voices heard.
However, Jantar Mantar was not always the first preference for protests; it was rather Boat Club, situated near Rajpath. “The Government, from 1993 onwards, declared Jantar Mantar as the official venue to stage protests in the city. The decision of shifting the place from Boat Club to Jantar Mantar was taken seeing the repercussions of the massive protest carried out by Mahendra Singh Tikait in 1988,” said Jagdish Mamgain, the author of ‘Rang Badalti Dilli’ and the president of the Progressive Party.
Citing security reasons for the shift in the protest site, a senior Government official said, “Boat Club is just a step away from the Prime Minister’s Office as well as from the Finance, External Affairs and Home Ministries. So, it was extremely unsafe to allow any such activity there. Also, it used to severely affect the cleanliness of the area, which is of national and international importance.”
The protest of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh which was led by Tikait, is believed to have shaken the Government in October, 1988. “The Capital had seen the biggest protest of its time. Tikait brought thousands of agitating farmers to the site and for almost a week he had held the place under siege. He had polluted and filled the place with an Army of cattle along with his protesters who even started cooking food there. A new legislation was introduced and protesting at Boat Club was banned since then,” said a senior official of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).
Jantar Mantar was zeroed in as a protest zone by the Government because it is near Parliament, yet it is not so close that it would affect the routine affairs of the concerned authorities. The Government can easily take notice of the demand of the public from there, he added.
The Jantar Mantar since then has been home to hundreds of protests and dharnas, the landmark ones being the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and the protest against December 16 gang-rape.
Even politicians from different parties like the Trinamool Congress, BJP and AAP have protested and delivered speeches there. The astronomical observatory turned protest site has nearly 200 protesters around it on a daily basis. But in times of huge public outcry, the numbers swell up to even thousands.
Why it was builtIJ
Jantar Mantar — located in the modern city consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. It was built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1724 onwards, as he was given the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the time and movements of the sun, moon and planets.
Distinct instruments within the observatory of Jantar Mantar:
Samrat Yantra: The Samrat Yantra, or Supreme Instrument, is a giant triangle that is basically an equal hour sundial. It is 70 feet high, 114 feet long at the base, and 10 feet thick. It has a 128-foot-long (39 m) hypotenuse that is parallel to the Earth’s axis and points toward the North Pole. On either side of the triangle is a quadrant with graduations indicating hours, minutes, and seconds.
Jayaprakash Yantra: The Jayaprakash consists of hollowed out hemispheres with markings on their concave surfaces. Crosswires were stretched between points on their rim. From inside the Ram, an observer could align the position of a star with various markings or a window’s edge.
Mishra Yantra: The Mishra yantras were able to indicate when it was noon in various cities all over the world and was the only structure in the observatory not invented by Jai Singh II.