Last updated 29 September 2026
Jantar Mantar is open daily from about 9 AM to 4:30 PM and costs around ₹200 for foreign visitors and ₹50 for Indian citizens. Forty-five minutes to an hour is right.
It is an observatory of nineteen masonry instruments built by Sawai Jai Singh II between 1728 and 1734, and it is the one place in Jaipur where going without a guide or an audio guide genuinely wastes the ticket. Unexplained, it is a yard of large abstract shapes. Explained, it is the most interesting hour in the city.
Timings and tickets
Go in the morning or late afternoon. There is no shade anywhere on the site by design, and in Jaipur's summer the middle of the day here is punishing.
Take the audio guide if you do not have a guide with you. It is inexpensive and it is the difference between the site working and not working.
| Open | About 9 AM – 4:30 PM, every day |
| Entry, foreign visitor | around ₹200 |
| Entry, Indian citizen | around ₹50 |
| Audio guide | Available at the gate, and worth it |
| Time to allow | 45 minutes – 1 hour |
| Where | Beside the City Palace, old city |
| Shade | Almost none — it is an observatory |
| UNESCO | Inscribed 2010 |
What the instruments do
Jai Singh was an astronomer as well as a ruler, and he built five of these observatories across northern India; Jaipur's is the largest and best preserved. The instruments are masonry rather than metal because he found that brass instruments of the period were too small to be precise, and scale was the answer.
They measure time, track the sun's position, predict eclipses, and determine the positions of stars and planets. Several are still accurate.
- Vrihat Samrat Yantra — the world's largest stone sundial, about 27 metres high, accurate to roughly two seconds. Its shadow moves visibly, around a millimetre a second
- Jai Prakash Yantra — two hemispherical bowls set into the ground, mapping the sky onto their inner surfaces
- Rashivalaya Yantra — twelve instruments, one for each zodiac sign, each aligned to its constellation
- Ram Yantra — two cylindrical structures for measuring altitude and azimuth
- Chakra Yantra — metal rings for calculating global coordinates
Why a guide matters here
Every other monument in Jaipur reads on sight. A fort is obviously a fort; a palace is obviously a palace. Jantar Mantar is nineteen abstract geometric structures in an open yard, with minimal signage and no visual clue as to what any of them is for.
Visitors who arrive without explanation typically walk the site in fifteen minutes, take photographs of interesting shapes and leave slightly puzzled. Visitors with a guide or an audio guide spend an hour and rate it among the best things they saw in Rajasthan. It is the same site.
This is the one place where we would rather you took the audio guide than saved the money, even on a tour where a guide is included — some of it is easier to follow instrument by instrument at your own pace.
Fitting it in
It shares a wall with the City Palace and is a five-minute walk from Hawa Mahal, so the three form the standard Jaipur old-city afternoon after Amber Fort in the morning.
Do it before the City Palace rather than after. It takes concentration, and after two hours of palace interiors most people have none left.
Common questions
What are Jantar Mantar Jaipur timings?
About 9 AM to 4:30 PM, every day. Allow forty-five minutes to an hour. There is no shade anywhere on the site, so morning or late afternoon is far more comfortable than the middle of the day, particularly in summer.
How much is the Jantar Mantar ticket?
Around ₹200 for foreign visitors and ₹50 for Indian citizens. An audio guide is available at the gate for a small extra amount and is genuinely worth taking — it is the difference between understanding the site and walking past nineteen abstract shapes.
Do you need a guide for Jantar Mantar?
More than anywhere else in Jaipur, yes. The instruments carry minimal signage and give no visual clue to their purpose. Without explanation most visitors leave in fifteen minutes, mildly puzzled. With a guide or audio guide they spend an hour and rate it among the highlights of Rajasthan. It is the same site either way.
What is the world's largest sundial?
The Vrihat Samrat Yantra at Jantar Mantar in Jaipur, about 27 metres high and accurate to around two seconds. Its shadow moves roughly a millimetre a second, slow enough to require patience and fast enough to watch. It was built in stone and plaster in the 1730s and still works.
Who built Jantar Mantar and why?
Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, between 1728 and 1734. He was a serious astronomer and built five such observatories across northern India; Jaipur's is the largest and best preserved. He used masonry rather than brass because the metal instruments of the period were too small for the precision he wanted — scale was his solution.