Category History

What is the history of Jantar Mantar?

1. A king and his love for astronomy

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is one among five such observatories built by Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur. Jai Singh II was extremely enthusiastic about astronomy and even owned telescopes. He came up with the idea of building the astronomical observatories in India when he noticed that the astronomical tables of the Zij (an islamic astronomical book that tabulates parameters used to calculate the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and the planets) were incomplete. He used the observatories to come up with a more accurate zij and new astronomical tables known as the zij-i Muhammad Shahi. These tables were used in India for nearly a century.

2. One among five observatories

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest among the five observatories built by Jai Singh II, and the only one among the five to receive the UNESCO World Heritage tag. The other observatories, also called Jantar Mantar, were built in Delhi, Varanasi, Mathura, and Ujjain between 1724 and 1735. However, today only four of these exist. The one in Mathura was destroyed just before the Revolt of 1857.

3. Astronomy with the naked eye

The monument has a collection of 19 astronomical instruments constructed out of local stone and marble. Each of these giant instruments caries an astronomical scale and facilitates calculation of the positions and distances of the celestial bodies with the naked eye.

4. World’s largest stone sundial

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is home to the largest stone sundial in the world. The Vrihat Samrat Yantra, which stands at the centre of the observatory, is a 27m-tall sundial which can help calculate time accurately down to two seconds.

5. No longer in use

Apart from stone and marble, bronze tablets, bricks and mortar were employed during the construction of the observatory. The Jantar Mantar was in continuous use till about the early 1800s, and then fell into disuse. It was restored several times during the British rule. Today, the observatory serves as a tourist attraction, kindling students interest in astronomy through guided tours, and music and light shows. It was declared a national monument in 1948, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.

 

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In which country is the Cup Noodles Museum located?

Traveling around Japan, we find we spend a lot of time eating, planning what we are going to eat, learning about local foods, and well, eating some more. Planning this trip, we all knew that we wanted to learn more about that iconic Japanese food – Ramen! Luckily, just a few minutes from Tokyo station by train, you can not only learn about these famous instant noodles but make them at the Cup Noodles Museum. 

A museum and interactive soup designing experience at the Cup Noodles Museum is a must do for children of all ages!  The building is four stories high, the first floor is the ticket booth and the gift shop. The museum is only ¥500 for adults, and free for high school and younger children. But! You can also schedule your time to make-your-own Cup Noodles at the front desk, so make sure you do that! Registering is free, but you will need ¥300 for each Cup Noodles you want to make when you get there.

 

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In which Indian city has Madame Tussauds museum been set up?

Madame Tussauds Delhi is a wax museum and tourist attraction located on Regal Theatre in New Delhi, India.It is the twenty third location for the Tussauds , which was set up by sculptor Marie Tussaud.

Housed in the heritage building Regal Cinema, which shut its doors earlier this year to make way for this global attraction, the two-storeyed exhibition has been specifically designed and structured with Indians in mind. Enter, and you will be greeted by cricketers Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, along with actor Richard Gere. Walk further to meet and greet Bollywood’s best with Salman Khan riding a rickshaw to Anil Kapoor from Slumdog Millionaire conducting Kaun Banega Crorepati?

The other sections/rooms have been divided into sports, history, bhangra, music and, eventually, a party of Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities. However, the exhibition is not solely visual. There are various interactive stations, where people can find out more about the wax model and also play some games. For instance, while posing with Marilyn Monroe, you can try out wigs matching her hair and even get yourself clicked in front of a vanity mirror placed right behind. Similarly, while checking out Milkha Singh’s wax model, you can play hockey or practise some shots as if you were there on the field with him. Moreover, there is a special section where you get personalised hand sculptures done and take them home. Making sure that the museum is accessible to all, the building has been made handicap-friendly along with functional lifts installed for all floors.

 

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Johannes Vermeer’s renowned painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is housed at Mauritshuis, an art museum in which country?

The ‘Girl with the Pearl Earring’, also referred to as the ‘Mona Lisa of the Low Countries’, is one of the most famous paintings in the Netherlands. During the Dutch Golden Age, a significant shift occurred in both the technique of painting and in subject matter, particularly as secular subjects began to replace religious themes. Portraiture focused increasingly on ordinary people, like the man depicted in Rembrandt van Rijn’s Portrait of an Elderly Man. The sitter seems not to be posed, but presented in a matter-of-fact way that differs from the idealized formality of traditional portraiture. The hierarchical social structure in other European countries no longer monopolized art production in the Netherlands during this time, and as the middle class prospered, an unprecedented market for portraiture developed. Successful individuals, married couples, and civic leaders wanted likenesses to pass on to posterity.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis, published by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in collaboration with the Mauritshuis, The Hague. The volume guides readers through the highlights of the museum’s magnificent collection and features 35 masterpieces of portraiture, landscape, genre painting, history painting, and still life, each accompanied by text illuminating its context and significance. Curatorial essays provide an overview of the extraordinary world of the 17th century Dutch Republic, explore the history and future of the Mauritshuis building and collection, offer an in-depth look at Girl with a Pearl Earring, and chronicle fascinating conservation treatments and technical research undertaken by the museum on behalf of its treasures.

 

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Which Indian oldest museum is located in Kolkata?

Founded in 1814 at the cradle of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (at the present building of the Asiatic Society, 1 Park Street, Kolkata), Indian Museum is the earliest and the largest multipurpose Museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia-Pacific region of the world. With the foundation of Indian Museum in 1814, the Museum movement started rolling in India and through the years from then, got a new fillip and great momentum. Since then, it has so magnificently developed and culminated into the fruitful existence of more than 400 museums in the country. The movement, which was started in 1814, in fact was the beginning of a significant epoch initiating the socio-cultural and scientific achievements of the country. It is otherwise considered as the beginning of the modernity and the end of mediaeval era.

The large collection of ancient and medieval Indian artefacts include remains of the Buddhist stupa from Bharhut, the Buddha’s ashes, a copy of the Lion Capital of Ashoka from an Ashoka pillar (original in the Sarnath Museum) whose four-lion symbol became the official emblem of the Republic of India, fossil skeletons of prehistoric animals, an art collection, rare antiques, and a collection of meteorites. The Indian Museum is also regarded as “the beginning of a significant epoch initiating the socio-cultural and scientific achievements of the country. It is otherwise considered as the beginning of the modernity and the end of medieval era” by UZER Places.

 

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Which city hosts the Acropolis Museum?

The Acropolis Museum is located in the historical area of Makriyianni, southeast of the Rock of the Acropolis, on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, Athens. It is only 300 metres from the Acropolis and approximately two kilometres from Syntagma Square, the main square of the city of Athens. The Museum entrance is located at the beginning of the pedestrian walkway of Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, which constitutes the central route for the unified network of the city’s archaeological sites. The Acropolis metro station is on the east side of the Museum site.

The first museum was on the Acropolis; it was completed in 1874 and underwent a moderate expansion in the 1950s. However, successive excavations on the Acropolis uncovered many new artifacts which significantly exceeded its original capacity.

An additional motivation for the construction of a new museum was that in the past, when Greece made requests for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the United Kingdom, which acquired the items in a controversial manner, it was suggested by some British officials that Greece had no suitable location where they could be displayed. Creation of a gallery for the display of the Parthenon Marbles has been key to all recent proposals for the design of a new museum.

 

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