{
  "id": 16632034,
  "title": "Beyond The Barricades: Jantar Mantar’s Stone Instruments And Our Windows To The Cosmos",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/beyond-the-barricades-jantar-mantars-stone-instruments-and-our",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-26T16:28:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/beyond-the-barricades-jantar-mantars-stone-instruments-and-our-windows-to-the-cosmos"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Jantar Mantar, an astronomical observatory in Delhi, has recently made global headlines amid protests and rallies. Built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1724, it is one of several observatories he constructed across India to improve astronomical accuracy. These large instruments, such as Samrat Yantra, Ram Yantra, and Jaiprakash Yantra, allowed for precise observations of celestial bodies, leading to the creation of the Zij-i Muhammad Shahi star tables.\n\nDr Rathnasree, a former director of the Nehru Planetarium, utilized these observatories to teach school students about positional astronomy. She believed that these ancient instruments offered a unique perspective that textbooks could not provide. However, Jantar Mantar is now more commonly associated with political demonstrations, which saddened Dr Rathnasree.\n\nThe Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT), commissioned in 1970, is a notable example of how these observatories have contributed to modern science. Designed by Dr Govind Swarup, who was inspired by the natural geography of Ooty, the ORT features a cylindrical parabolic reflector that aligns with the Earth's rotation axis, allowing it to track celestial objects without a complex mount.\n\nBuilding upon the success of the ORT, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) was established near Pune. Comprising thirty dishes, each 45 meters in diameter, the GMRT has been instrumental in studying various cosmic phenomena, from pulsars to distant galaxies. The GMRT's ingenuity and technological achievements have earned it recognition from the IEEE as an engineering milestone.\n\nIn recent years, Jantar Mantar has also been featured as part of the Vigyan Samagam, a mega-science exhibition organized by various government institutions. The exhibition aimed to showcase India's role in large-scale scientific projects, including the Thirty-Metre Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array, both of which involve Indian researchers and engineers. This event provided students with an opportunity to ponder the mysteries of the universe and the methods by which we study it.\n\nUltimately, Jantar Mantar serves as a reminder of humanity's shared connection to Earth. Standing at Jantar Mantar, one is reminded of the small, blue dot that we all inhabit—Earth. Science transcends differences and encourages us to engage in reasoned debate, fostering a deeper understanding of our universe and our place within it.",
  "summary": "Jantar Mantar in the heart of Delhi, which has served as a dynamic venue for agitations—protests, rallies and campaigns on social and political issues—is once again in the news, making global headlines. Independent of what each of our opinions is on the agitation or on the government's response, many of us don’t seem to know much about the significance of this historic site of agitation and what…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}