DESKTOP 1826 - JANTAR MANTAR, INDIA

The Jantar Mantar is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Sawai Jai Singh who was a Rajput king. The title of (King) and Sawai was bestowed on him by Emperor Mohammad Shah. Jai Singh II of Amber built his new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1734. It is also located in Ujjain and Mathura. It is modelled after the one that he had built at the Mughal capital of Delhi.

He had constructed a total of five such facilities at different locations, including the ones at Delhi and Jaipur. The Jaipur observatory is the largest and best preserved of these. It has been inscribed on the World Heritage List as "an expression of the astronomical skills and cosmological concepts of the court of a scholarly prince at the end of the Mughal period".

Early restoration work was undertaken under the supervision of Major Arthur Garrett, a keen amateur astronomer, during his appointment as Assistant State Engineer for the Jaipur District. The Jantar Mantar was made by Sawai Jai Singh as he was particularly interested in learning about the sky above his head.

The name is derived from jantar ("instrument"), and mantar ("formula", or in this context "calculation"). Therefore jantar mantar means literally 'calculation instrument'. This observatory has religious significance, since ancient Indian astronomers were also Jyotisa (Indian astronomy and astrology) masters.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

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DESKTOP 1825 - GREENS

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme,
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DESKTOP 1824 - OLD WRECK

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
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and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 1823 - POND

Pond in the Darebin Parklands in the suburbs of Melbourne.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

DESKTOP 1822 - CLOUDY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

DESKTOP 1821 - INDIAN HAWTHORN

Rhaphiolepis indica, the Indian hawthorn, India hawthorn or Hong Kong hawthorn, is an evergreen shrub in the family As. The species is native to an area from southern China, Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It is grown for its decorative pink flowers, and is popular in bonsai culture. The fruit is edible when cooked, and can be used to make jam.

Indian hawthorn is a mainstay horticultural specimen in southern United States. It is often found in commercial as well as in private landscapes. Often it is trimmed into small compact hedges or balls for foundation plants. It has been successfully pruned into a standard form as well as small dwarf-like trees up to 5 m in height. It is apt to develop leaf spot.

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DESKTOP 1820 - CELL

cell | sɛl |noun: A unit in a device for converting chemical or solar energy into electricity: A button cell is required for powering a quartz watch.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1819 - OUTBACK

The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush" which, colloquially, can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. Because of the low and erratic rainfall over most of the outback, combined with soils which are usually not very fertile, inland Australia is relatively sparsely settled. More than 90 percent of Australians live in urban areas on the coast.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

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DESKTOP 1818 - IT'S COSY INSIDE

The wind and rain are lashing the streets outside; the window is all wet and raindrops are trickling down. Cars struggle to drive home through the storm and few people are braving the elements this evening.
But, it's cosy inside!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday.

DESKTOP 1817 - MODERN TECH

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
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and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.