Varanasi: Man Mahal Observatory was originally built by Maharaja Savai Jai Singh-II of Jaipur in 1710, and later restored by the order of Maharaja Savai Madho Singh in 1911. Maharaja Jai Singh himself was a great astronomer and the founder of Jaipur city. The palace, a beautiful example of Mughal-Rajput architecture, was built on the bank of Ganga by Man Singh, the Raja of Amber and a celebrated general of the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar in around 1600AD. The palace is a magnificent building with exquisite ornate window carvings. The observatory displays huge instruments made of stone, once used to study the movement of sun, moon, star and other planetary bodies. Also known as Jantar Mantar the observatory is similar to the Jantar Mantar located in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain and Mathura. It is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
