Being one of most popular cities of India Bengaluru is a prominent IT and education hub today. Because of its beautiful chain of gardens it is called Garden city of India. While exploring the city you should not miss the museums which are full of knowledge and quite educational. Let me take you one of the most popular museums of Bengaluru known as Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum which is called VITM in short. As the name suggests it is Science Museum owned by Government. The museum is established in order to create interest in the field of Science and make Science popular among people through interactive exhibits.It is the perfect place to explore for young minds. The current director of this museum is Mr. S. M. Khened. The VITM is managed by its parent organization named National Council of Science Museums (NCSM). In the year 1960 Visvesvaraya Industrial Museum Society was formed by well known industrialists. It is situated at the Cubbon Park on an area of about 40000 sq ft. The funding to build this museum came from industrialists, Government of Karnataka and also from the Government of India together. The official inauguration of VITM was done by the hands of first Prime Minister of India Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru on 11th November 1962. The Electro Technic exhibit was first opened for public view only on 27th July in the year 1965.The best thing about the Visvesvaraya is that it is not like other museums but more like an interactive exhibit because you will not find stationary models which has a tag of “Do not touch” on them. Instead of calling it a museum I think it should be called an interactive Science centre. The museum has separate sections to for different field of Science. Let me give you a glimpse of each one so that you can know what to expect when you visit the museum.
- There is a hall dedicated to engines of various machines and is called Engine Hall. It has several automobile engines, jet aircraft engine, industrial machines and other devices.
- Another section has a gallery to demonstrate predictability and precision of mechanics using rolling balls on metal tracks.
- Another exhibit explains the principle of conservation of energy efficiently.
- The very interesting Electro Technic exhibit is fantastic as it shows interactive electrical exhibits based on principles of electricity, electronics and communication. A new addition to the gallery is done on 8th April 2010. In this new addition you get to see the experiments like Oersted’s experiment, Barlow’s wheel, Faraday’s ring, etc.
- One section of the exhibit demonstrates the electrostatics that has Tesla Coil, Van de Graff Generator, etc.
- There is an interesting Fun Science Gallery which exhibits Science of sound, optics, fluids, math, perception, etc.
- If you are interested in Rocket Science then head to the Space Gallery that exhibits the Rocket Science along with history of exploration of space. a mini planetarium show named “Taramandal” is conducted by the museum authorities at certain time schedules.
- To explore the basics of Biotechnology visit the Biotechnology hall at second floor.
- There is a hall called Bell Hall which exhibits the electronics and its principles.
- A special section in the museum is dedicated to the young children and called Scince for children exhibiting various interesting activities based on Science to engage the children. The giant piano which works beautifully, a pin ball to make impressions of body parts, the virtual game zone, virtual musical instruments, etc. are some of the highlights of this gallery.
- A replica of Spinosaurus in the museum catches the attention of young kids immediately.
- The replica of 1903 flyer of Wright Brothers in its actual size is really amazing.
- There is 3D theatre in the museum now based on technology from Light Speed, USA. Deep sea diving and some other interesting films are showed here. Coloured bead mural at the entrance looks attractive.
It is a fantastic place to enjoy & entertain, to gain knowledge and understand the fundamentals on Science for all age groups especially the young children and students. More than a million people visit this spectacular museum of Science.RUCHI MAHAJAN