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The palace
Man Mahal, popularly known as Man Mandir is located adjacent to the
famous Dashashvamedh ghat hardly five kilometres from Varanasi railway
station.
Man Mahal situated on the western bank of river Ganga just adjacent to
the famous Dashashvamedh ghat at Varanasi is a beautiful example of
Mughal-Rajput architecture with stone balconied windows and painted
ceiling. It is famous specially for its masonry observatory. The palace
was built in around 1600 A.D. by Man Singh, the Raja of Amber and a
celebrated General of the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar. But the
observatory was added to it in around 1737 A.D by Sawai Jai Singh II
(1686-1745 AD) who himself was a great astronomer, the founder of Jaipur
city and a descendant of Raja Man Singh. |
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Besides inventing a number of
instruments, tables and formulae, constructed five masonry observatories
located at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. These are
popularly known as Jantar Mantar which is a corrupt form of Yantra-
Mantra meaning thereby the calculation with the help of instruments.
The
plan of the observatory in the palace of Man Mahal was prepared by
Jagannath, an astronomer and the work was executed by an architect from
Jaipur named Sardar Mohan under the supervision of Sadashiva. .Samrat
Yantra (Small and large) Digamsa Yantra, Nadivalaya Yantra, Chakra
Yantra and Dakshinottara Bhitti Yantra are the main instruments of this
observatory. These are meant for calculating time, preparing lunar and
solar calendar and studying the movements, distances, angles of
inclination of the stars, planets and other heavenly bodies.
By the orders of Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh of Jaipur, Pandit Gokul
Chand Bhavan, the then court astronomer had carried out major
restoration work to this observatory in the year 1912 as it was turned
into ruins during the middle part of 19th century A.D.
Visitor Information
Open from Sunrise to Sunset.
You can
reach Man Mandir Observatory by alighting at Godaulia. Godaulia can be
reached by car, auto rickshaw etc. Since no vehicles are allowed beyond
Godaulia so you have to walk for 5 minutes to reach Man Mandir
Observatory.
Entrance Fee:
Citizens of India and visitors of SAARC (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri
Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan) and BIMSTEC Countries
(Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar) - Rs. 5 per
head.
Others:
US $ 2 or Indian Rs. 100/- per head
(Free entry to children up to 15 years)
Sources: http://asi.nic.in
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