naligah daed (นาฬิกาแดด)

Thai. ‘Sunlight clock’. Thai term for a sundial, i.e. a device that tells the time of day by the position of the sun. In Thailand, a garden sundial with hour lines indicated in Thai numbers on a horizontal dial face can be found in the King Rama IX Royal Park (fig.) in eastern Bangkok. In this particular one, the hour lines indicate the numbers 1 to 6 on the right side of the gnomon, i.e. the upright part ‒here a triangular blade‒ that casts the shadow on the calibrated dial board, and from 6 to 11 on the left side of it, whereas noon is indicated in the centre by the number zero. The Jaipur Observatory in India, officially known as Jantar Mantar, houses the world's largest sundial, which is known as the Supreme Instrument. It stands 27 meters tall and throws a shadow that moves visibly at one millimeter per second (fig.). In China, the Pudong business district of Shanghai City features a stainless steel modern art monument in the form of a giant sundial (map - fig.). It is known as Oriental Light and is located at a roundabout on the eastern end of Century Avenue. The large elliptical frame measures 400 square meters and the total length of the stainless steel tubes used exceeds 6,000 meters. Oriental Light, completed in April 2000, was built based on an idea by French architect, Jean Marie Charpentier, who also designed the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, a landmark building on the People's Square in Huangpu District. In addition, the capital Beijing is home to the China Millennium Monument, which consists of a giant sundial and the so-called the Bronze Corridor, a long pathway −made of several large, connecting, bronze plaques− that runs towards the monument and which lists all major events of the past engraved in chronological order (map - fig.). In Chinese, a sundial is called rigui (日晷 or 日规), of which the latter literally means ‘sun compass’. The division of time into hours and months, particularly the use of the number 12, has ancient origins and is likely rooted in the practice of counting with one hand, using the thumb as a pointer to count the three segments of each finger, totaling twelve. Also transliterated nalikah daet. See also naligah and clepsydra. 回