The most perplexing thing I saw on my trip: the Jaipur observatory or
Jantar Mantar, built by an astronomically-minded prince who brought
European scientists and builders to Jaipur to construct these big
gnomons and towers designed to map the sky with great accuracy. At the
time they were built, in the mid-1700s, Europeans had moved on to
using quadrants and telescopes to do the same thing, and he was in
communication with some of them - so I wonder what he hoped to
accomplish?
"Guides" skilled at reading less-than-informative English placards did
a brisk business the day of my visit.
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