
Jantar Mantar Celestial Clock |
||
The Jai Prakash Yantra are a pair of hemispherical bowls faced with marble. Like the Ram Yantra, one complements the other – open spaces in one are replaced by surfaces in the other. Inside the spaces are steps for the observers to stand and each bowl was mounted on lead sheeting to ensure it would remain perfectly stable over the years.
The purpose of the Jai Prakash Yantra was to act as a reflection of the sky above. Cross wires stretched over the center of the bowl hold a metal ring, and every point in the sky can be reflected onto a corresponding point on the bowl through the ring. It is said that the Jai Prakash Yantra were so accurate, they were used to calibrate the other instruments in the Jantar Mantar.
Jaipur is one of my favorite places in India, I have many friends there who own elephants and horses.
The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest and best preserved of Jai Singh II’s five pre-telescopic o...
Isar Lat or Swargasuli in Jaipur, is the highest tower you will notice on the western side of the Tri...
My friends Panited Elephnat heading to the Jaipur Elephant Festival along the road below Isar lat or ...
The Nahargarh Fort stands at the top of rugged point of the Aravali hills and offers a spectacular vi...
The Nahagarh Fort stands on the edge of the steep rocky edge of Aravali Hills, up here on the old for...
Walking over a small hill between Jaipur and the Monkey Temple is the Surya Mandir (Sun Temple) sitti...
Charan Mandir (Feet Temple) atop the Aravalli Hills near the Nahargarh Fort, surrounded by characteri...
Asia is the biggest continent on Earth, a darling little gem floating around in space.
Hm, what is Asia? Who's in on it?
China and India are safe bets for Asian nations. Korea, Japan, Thailand, you're fine.
Europe? No. Europe would sort of be on the "Asian continent" if not for those pesky Ural mountains dividing things up in the middle, and then also the whole lineage of kings and wealth and nations and the EU and all that "give me my respect" stuff.
Russia would probably be happiest as its own continent, so for now we'll leave it in "Eurasia" and just hope the natural gas supplies keep flowing.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are dang close to Asia, but politically they show up in "Middle East" news stories an awful lot. Verdict: Eurasia.
I guess we'll actually have to consider everything from Turkey on eastward to be "Eurasian", although the moniker seems overlappitory of the territory.
The Asian economy is now officially raging like a wild furnace of lava that consumes everything in its path. Japan has had the largest individual economy in Asia for decades, but it is forecast that both India and China will outstrip Japan within twenty years.
China is the largest holder of United States debt and is positioned to become the world's next superpower, provided that Godzilla doesn't return and decide to stomp everybody back into the Shang Dynasty.
Text by Steve Smith.