No order issued by ASI to close Jantar Mantar heritage site on October 10: Sources

New Delhi, While a massive security deployment turned central Delhi virtually into a citadel and rendered the Jantar Mantar protest site out of bounds for people on Saturday, the monumental site of Jantar Mantar neighbouring the eponymous demonstration square was "officially open" to visitors, according to sources.

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The sources said the ancient observatory, constructed in 1724, was "open to visitors" throughout the day, subject to movement allowed by police authorities, adding that "no order was issued" from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for its closure.

The iconic Delhi landmark, built by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur, sits in a sprawling compound located in the heart of the city and faces Parliament Street on one side.

The famous observatory lends its name to a road nearby and the protest site.

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ASI sites -- centrally-protected monuments -- are open to visitors from sunrise to sunset.

In view of a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the national capital was turned into a fortress on Saturday with a massive deployment of security personnel.

Security was tight in central Delhi particularly, with more than 120 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces assisting the city police in managing the situation.

Many people, who were not protesters, said they could not move around freely in the central Delhi area, as police had imposed very strict restrictions and a large number of people were detained by the force.

Given the security situation, many had assumed that the heritage tourist attraction neighbouring the fortified protest site along Jantar Mantar Road would be closed by authorities.

Asked about the clamping of section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and multiple roads leading to Jantar Mantar being barricaded, a source told PTI that Jantar Mantar was "open from the ASI end" and visitors in small groups, comprising maximum four persons, could visit the heritage site, subject to police restrictions.

"The area had heavy police deployment and movement restrictions, but we did not close entry from our end," the source said.

Waves of barricades lined the streets ahead of the CJP protest, with the deployment of more than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel, closure of 45 metro stations and intensive checks at the city's border points, railway stations, bus terminals, hotels and other sensitive locations.

Jai Singh, who built the observatory, went on to build other observatories in Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura.

He had found the existing astronomical instruments too small to take correct measurements and hence, built these larger and more accurate instruments.