Solarium (Jamnagar)

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This is only one of its kind in the whole world existing today.
It was used as a treatment center which used Solar radiation for treatment for some diseases.
Using different kinds of glass window panes and a mechanism to rotate it to face the sun during day time, it was a wonder of the world. It was the first of three designed by Dr Jean Saidman, a French specialist in solar therapy. Over 100 feet off the ground, set onto a two-story building to accommodate gears and an electric engine, the 114-foot high solarium rotated on a horizontal plane to follow the east to west ‘movement’ of the sun, while the beds in each of 10 cabins rotated on a vertical plane to hold a constant position in relation to the sun’s position relative to the horizon.

In contrast to the engineering – which incorporates mirrors, reflecting screens, complex timing belts and magnifying glasses – the principle of the solarium is simple: to expose the body to the sun so that natural sunlight will help the body heal itself. The simplicity of this literal elemental ecology allows for a radical theorization of heliotherapy in India in a way that would make religious nationalists squirm, as much as it might make historians of medicine blink in disbelief.