India's most important ancient observatory, which can still be used after 300 years, has the largest sundial in the world.

Every night, I look up at the sky blankly. The universe has too many secrets. Seeing the stars all over the sky always makes people daydream, so the subject of studying the structure and development of celestial bodies in space and universe was born. This is astronomy. Because astronomy needs a lot of equipment to assist research, many people will think it is a modern science, but it is not. The study of this starry sky has never been the patent of modern people. On the contrary, it is an ancient science that has never been interrupted since the history of human civilization: as early as 3 100 BC, the ancient British built Stonehenge, which can accurately understand the 12 direction of the sun and moon. The ancient Egyptians built pyramids dedicated to observing the sun and other celestial bodies 4,700 years ago, and China was no exception. There are regular records of solar eclipse in Oracle bone inscriptions unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province, which is also the earliest record of solar eclipse.

As one of the four ancient civilizations, it is natural for India to study astronomy, but its most developed period was the reign of Savai Jay Singh II. During this period, he built many observatories in Jaipur, Delhi and varanasi. These observatories show the Indian people's enthusiasm for understanding the universe and their superb ability to explore astronomy at the end of the Mughal era. The most important and well-preserved observatory is Janta Manta Observatory in Jaipur.

In fact, "Janta Manta" is a Sanskrit word, which translates as "computing machine", so the Janta Manta Observatory here is not exclusive. On the contrary, there are five observatories in India with this name, but it is the most famous one. Generally speaking, Janta Manta Observatory will be associated with it. Get off at Batty Station by bus, and you can walk here. You are used to foreigners spending more tickets than Indians. After all, it is unlikely to miss this place because of the tickets. Walking into the scenic spot, you can see many grotesque brick buildings scattered on the green lawn, especially the observation deck in the middle. Just looking at its shape, it feels a bit like the Colosseum in Rome.

However, this building is much smaller than the Colosseum in Rome, and these squares on the cylinder of this masonry structure are not used for sitting people, but for timing. Someone must be curious, how do these grids test the room? This depends on the sundial in the middle of the observatory. Its principle is mainly to specify the time or the number of minutes at that time according to the position of the sun shadow: during the day, the shadow cast by the object irradiated by the sun is constantly changing in length and direction, but it is more convenient to time according to the direction of the shadow. This is a common time-keeping practice in many countries in ancient society, but there is a serious defect, that is, there must be sunshine, otherwise it is impossible to time. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the sundial in the center of the Tamanta Observatory is called Zamora sundial, which is also the largest stone sundial in the world and has a history of nearly 300 years.

In addition to the observatory itself, there are 18 astronomical instruments with fixed devices as the main body around, each with different functions, mainly observing three celestial coordinate systems: horizon coordinate system, equatorial coordinate system and ecliptic coordinate system. The principles of these astronomical instruments are said to come from the Sanskrit classics of ancient India, combined with the Islamic astronomical data obtained in the Mughal period, and innovated under the inspiration of different religions and social trends in India in the18th century, becoming a typical representative of Ptolemaic positioning astronomy, enabling people to observe the position of stars with the naked eye, which was already a relatively advanced equipment at that time.

Interestingly, there are 12 small triangle building representatives 12 constellations. The angle and direction of each constellation are towards its own constellation, and the position is not bad at all. It is very accurate. It is said that it was used to study astrology before, which smacks of the combination of science and theology. If you like horoscopes, you can find your own horoscopes and take a photo.

Unfortunately, even the best preserved observatory was destroyed in the19th century. The existing observatory was restored by the army major and amateur astronomer Arthur Garrett. He used to be an assistant engineer in Jaipur. It is precisely because of this that we can see this magical building, but it seems that Indians have not given it special protection and are basically free to climb. Even many children have climbed high and feel confident.

What is shocking is that although the Jiantamanta Observatory has experienced a history of more than 300 years, even it was once destroyed, all kinds of observation instruments in it can still operate normally and can still be used by astronomers. It has to be said that it shows the super-high astronomical knowledge of ancient Indians, so it was listed as a cultural heritage at the 34th meeting of UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 20 10. If you are also a World Heritage Site,