The second largest of its kind in the world, Birla Planetarium, a centre for science, communication and environment, established by Birla Planetarium was thrown opened for public in 1962. As I said in the earlier post, this is adjacent to the Maidan, close to the crossing of Chowringhee and Theatre Road, i.e., Shakespeare Sarani.
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| Birla Planetarium |
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| Crossing the road to reach planetarium |
At the very first glance, I felt I’m standing in front of a Stupa. Yes, the planetarium is a single storeyed, circular structure constructed in Indian architectural style. The central dome has a diameter of 27 metre and resembles the Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi.
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| The dome looks like a Stupa |
The planetarium provides useful information about the solar system, galaxies, life span of stars, space, planets and other heavenly bodies in audio and video aids. These lectures are in English, Hindi, and Bengali and occasionally in Oriya, Tamil and Gujarati. Interesting exhibits are the fine collections of paintings, celestial models and busts of famous astronomers that line the corridors.
Popularly known as Tara Mandal, the planetarium has an electronics laboratory for design and fabrication of science equipment. It also has an astronomical observatory equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with accessories such as ST6 CCD camera and solar filter. It offers to the public and students more than 100 astronomical projects dealing with various facts of astronomy, astro-physics, Space Science as well as myths concerning stars and planets. It has a capacity of 500 people.
The planetarium conducts seven shows every day from 12 noon to 7 pm except on Mondays.
After being at Calcutta Birla Planetarium, I can say that I have seen all the three Birla Planetariums (one only from outside ;) ), the others two being B.M. Birla Planetarium in Chennai, which I saw during my college days, and the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad, which I saw when I visited a friend in Hyderabad.
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Major traffic junction which has all important places like Maidan,
Victoria, Planetarium, Eden Gardens and others |
Then we saw Maidan, a large park. While going to Victoria Hall, we had seen some children playing inside. We called Sanjay to come and pick us and on the way, we saw Eden Gardens. I had heard a lot about it and was curious to see it.
After being at Calcutta Birla Planetarium, I can say that I have seen all the three Birla Planetariums (one only from outside ;) ), the others two being B.M. Birla Planetarium in Chennai, which I saw during my college days, and the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad, which I saw when I visited a friend in Hyderabad.
Then we saw Maidan, a large park. While going to Victoria Hall, we had seen some children playing inside. We called Sanjay to come and pick us and on the way, we saw Eden Gardens. I had heard a lot about it and was curious to see it. 
Nice trip. Thanks for sharing your trip experience. Visit this museum to witness a wide spectrum of galleries and design works that ranges from basic to advanced science including nuclear, mining, communication, electronics, iron and steel etc. There are a lot of activities that are being organised in the museum including game shows, sky watch sessions, movie screening, fun-filled learning sessions and a lot more. Explore more about Birla Museum Kolkata.
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