All in the Stars (Jaipur, India)

All in the Stars (Jaipur, India) - Like a surrealist's children's playground, Jantar Mantar was designed not far away to the outstanding royal Palace of the Winds as an astronomical observatory. designed around 1730 by the Maharajah of the famed Pink town, Jaipur, it absolutely was among the foremost correct and detailed observatory for its time within the world. The star-inspired maharajah designed 5 such observatories across India, four of that still exist nowadays.

To the untrained eye, the structures appear as if inventive and appealing outsized playground rides to climb and jump upon. With some description, they detail a fascination with correct celestial measurements for the sun and moon, detailing the seasons, tracking the orbits of major stars, zodiac constellations and planets, predicting eclipses and measuring time itself. Importantly for the religious Indians, the observatory was utilised to satisfy an obsession with detailed horoscopes to make sure the simplest doable circumstances for weddings, major festivals, conferences and most aspects of life.

The giant among the 30 or so structures is the 27 metre high Samrat Jantar (see background of second photo from the top)with its small covered deck for making relevant announcements. It is the world's largest sundial. The time remains extraordinarily accurate to this day with the cast shadow moving around one millimetre every second or one metre in just over quarter of an hour. You can literally see time move. The guide explains that it is angled at 27 degrees which corresponds to the latitude that Jaipur sits above the equator.

Other equally strange structures include one with two large red disks also used to measure time and a strange structure like a cake with every second slice missing. It is able to measure the angle of the sun to assist with detailing the seasons.


Jantar Mantar is a fascinating work integrating science, astronomy, religion and art. Particularly on a sunny day, wandering and climbing these strange stone travel wonders provides an interesting insight into the 18th century balance of science and spirituality.

A Royal Facade (Jaipur, India)

A Royal Facade (Jaipur, India) - Embedded inside city walls, Jaipur may be a harmonious town of broad boulevardes and strange travel wonders. Today, the bustle of an enormous population, manic traffic, enthused street vendors and meandering cattle overwhelms abundant of this harmony however the obsession with painting the buildings in shades of red (the town is thought because the Pink City) still helps the town exude a sublime charm.

Most putting of all the buildings is that the five-storey honeycombed Hawa Mahal or The Palace of the Winds. Over two hundred years previous and build from red and pink sandstone, this structure sits sort of a regal crown. With an exquisite carved facade boasting virtually a thousand tiny windows, the fine stone latticework lets individuals see out (but not in). the sunshine at totally different times of day changes the palace's moods changing its color from golden bronzes to riotous reds.

The surprises lie behind the scene. Walking through an oversized courtyard, it's clear that this building is merely one slender space wide, additional sort of a five-storey honeycombed wall than a palace. Walking to the highest floor via ramps (there are not any staircases), you'll peer out of the little grills onto the colourful town below. General belief is that this was designed for the ladies of the royal household, who might read the town parades and different activities whereas keeping hidden from public read, their lives being led underneath terribly strict rules of modesty.

Today, the brazen monkey inhabitants steal the best views, keeping a watchful gaze over their domain. They seem somewhat affronted having people wandering through their regal surroundings, though any chance to pickpocket an unwary visitor of food or other items is quickly grabbed.

On the street below, the snake charmers beguile the tourists and locals alike with the cobras rising from their woven baskets and swaying to the mournful music. Similar to their backdrop being a palatial facade, their act is also somewhat of a facade. The cobras have been de-fanged and the swaying following the path of the gently rocking charmer, rather than dancing to the music. After all, the snake cannot hear the music!

Whether a facade or not, the Palace of the Winds is a stunning royal building with its intricate carving and excellent views over the mesmerising Pink City of Jaipur.

In a beautiful verdant park on a river in Delhi, a simple, elegant platform of black marble, adorned with floral wreaths and lit with a single lantern marks the cremation of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation of India. The simple words "O God" in Hindi mark the bottom of the platform at Raj Ghat (as the site is called), believed to be Gandhi's last words on being shot. Even today, visiting Raj Ghat brings a harmonious feeling of peace and tranquility and is in sharp contrast to the bustling pandemonium which characterises much of the remarkable Indian capital city of Delhi.

Today, the International Day of Non-Violence is celebrated on his birthday of 2 October every year and marks a public holiday in India. His peaceful approach to mass people-driven civil disobedience has set the standard for civil rights movements around the world.

In the same area, there are memorials marking the ashes of five Indian prime ministers and several other notable Indian politicians.

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It's All in the Stars (Jantar Mantar, Jaipur)
A Royal Facade (Palace of the Winds, Jaipur)
A Monument to Love (Taj Mahal)
From Dead Duck to Bird Heaven (Bharatpur)