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The Amber Palace Fort - Feb 09
Splendidly carved arches of Rajendra Pol - Feb 09
City Palace - Feb 09
Amber Palace in JaipurJantar Mantar III - Hey baby, what's your sign?
"Hey baby, what's your sign?" Does that translate well? In English and in American dating culture, that's a sleazy pick-up line used by men looking to "date" ladies that they're meeting at a bar or a party. It refers to the notion that sharing your astrological sign with another person ("I'm a Capricorn...") is a good way to start a random conversation.
I'm not sure how important one's astrological sign is for starting a relationship, but astrologers have long felt that the constellations present in the heavens at certain times of the year, or at the time of one's birth, heavily affect and influence events in time. Jai Singh II and his fellow learned men of the 18th century certainly felt this way. And along with all of the truly scientific wonders he created at Jantar Mantar, he also built a goodly number of astrological temples and what-nots in his effort to control and understand all things celestial. He was not alone in his regard for astrology and its importance. Over at Fatehpur Sikri, none other than Akbar the Great built a special "astrologer's chair" so that his personal astrologer would have a place to make his pronouncements and predictions.
Sure, we scientists (I am, by trade, a Clinical Chemist) generally disdain astrology as a bunch of nonsense... entertaining nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless. But to Jai Singh II, it was as cutting edge for knowledge as were the telescope and his sundials. It all related to the heavens, a place that was - at that time - still unreachable for even mighty maharajahs.
As for the science versus superstition thing, I WILL admit to one thing. I am sometimes jealous that some celebrity astrologers have found a way to make millions of dollars with their zodiac-based predictions. Maybe I should have paid a little more attention to astrology in my college days. :) ....the look on my wife's face when I uttered the predictable and cheesy "hey baby, what's your sign?" line when we were exploring Jantar Mantar's astrological section.
