Located on Parliament Lane, New Delhi's south Connaught Road, Jantar Mantar is a large observatory designed to assist and develop the time and space studies as it was called. It was founded in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh, and is part of a series of five such observatories in Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura.

Delhi's Jantar Mantar consists of 13 astronomical architectural instruments that can be used to compile astronomical tables and forecast sun, moon and planet movement and timing. The intelligent design and positioning of these instruments allowed the observer to note with his naked eye alone the location of the celestial bodies.

Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur was keenly interested in these astronomical observations and the study of all the structures, and on the instructions of Muhammad Shah he erected this observatory. Constructed from stone, rubble and then plastered with lime, these instruments have been rebuilt from time to time with no major alteration.

The apparatus here belongs to the Ptolemaic astronomy of Egypt and implements three classical celestial coordinates to chart the positions of celestial bodies-namely the local horizon-zenith system, the equatorial system, and the ecliptic system. Four primary devices are installed here: the Samrat Yantra, the Jai Prakash, Ram Yantra and Misra Yantra. To the east of the main site lies a small Bhairava temple, and even that was founded by Maharaja Jai Singh II.