Near Bangalore Vishweshwariah Museum, Bangalore
An Introduction
The Vishweshwariah Industrial and Technological Museum in Bangalore is a fascinating place to spend a day. Dedicated to Science and Technology, the Vishweshwariah Museum’s appeal cuts across all ages. What is interesting is that the Museum covers the history behind all major technological inventions from the teeny weeny Zipper to Jet Engines with simple and lucid explanations. In fact, most exhibits have a live demonstration to explain the concept. I found the Star Show where you need to crawl into the dome, most exciting! Considering the interactive nature of this museum, I would say it’s more of a science center that is doing a great job of creating awareness and building a scientific temper in the country.
Brief History
The Vishweshwariah Industrial and Technological Museum was set up in 1962 and is managed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is named after Sir Mokshagundam Vishweshwariah, the notable Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore. The purpose of the museum is to popularize science through interactive exhibits. The museum has artifacts related to Engines, transportation, telecommunication, aviation, rockets and computational devices.
The Galleries
The Vishweshwariah Industrial and Technological Museum has 5 main galleries with exhibits catering to electronics, motor power, telecommunications, computational devices, aviation and other aspects of science.
The museum has an interesting collection of artifacts cutting across Science and Technology developments over the last century. A few of the artifacts I liked were the Steam Wagon, Edison’s Phonograph, Mechanical Calculator, Gramophone, Sewing Machine, Reaction Turbine, Jet Engine and Combination Lock.
The fun science gallery displays exhibits on sciences of sound, optics, fluids, math and perception. One gets a good grounding on the classical experiments like Oersted's experiment, Barlow's wheel, Faraday's ring at the Electronic Technology Gallery.
Rocket Science and the history of space exploration are covered in the Space Gallery. There are prototypes of “Mission Control Centre”, “Satellites” and “Rocket Launchers” in this gallery. There is also a special section dedicated to the famous Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
The most interesting exhibit for in the Scinece for Children Gallery is a giant Piano over which kids can jump and create music!
The section on Lever, Wheel & Axle brings alive the famous quote of Archimedes, “Give me a long enough lever and a place to stand, and I will move the earth”.
Special Exhibits
There is a real life size replica of a Spinosaurus right near the entrance in the ground floor. This section educates children about how the Dinosaurs lived and perished. The moving Exhibit accompanied with its spine chilling cries leaves quite an impression among kids!
A rare exhibit is the replica of “Flyer”, the very first aero plane flown by the Wright brothers in 1903. The Wright brothers had flown it four times on December 17, 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in the USA. In order to reduce drag, the pilot flew lying on his stomach on the lower wing with his head toward the front of the. Steering is enabled by moving a cradle attached to the pilot’s hips.
Shows
The Taramandal or Space Show is a really exciting activity. The dome of the planetarium is quite low and so everyone needs to crawl in like kids! The show is quite informative as the showman starts with the setting sun and takes us through all that happens between dusk and dawn.
The 3D theater hosts some really spectacular shows. Deep sea diving and workings of the brain are a couple of the films that are screened here.
Kids of all ages will appreciate the real steam engine as well as an airplane outside the Museum.
At the end of the visit, I started wondering that this Museum is better than any school I went to as it showed me an application of all the theories of physics that I had studied as a kid!
Nearby attractions
Located next to The Vishweshwariah Museum are two more institutions of interest.
The Venkatappa Art Gallery is a treasure trove of paintings from renounced artists like M.F Hussain, KK Hebbar, Vasudev Hanumaiah, Hariram, Rekha Rao and N.S Bendre. There is a separate gallery housing sculptures from Mathura and Kajuraho.
The magnificent Government Museum was designed by colonel Sankey in 1876. The museum is a repository of artifacts from geology, natural history, sculpture, art and numismatics. Relics from ancient civilisations like the Indus Valley, Halebid and Vijay Nagar make up an interesting collection. Some of the relics are as old as 5000 years.
A Discovery
The Vishweshwariah Museum and Smithsonian Institutions in the US are the only 2 Museums in the world to have a full scale replica of the 1903 Plane of Wright brothers.
Reaching Vishweshwariah Museum
The Museum is located on Kasturba Road near Cubbon Park. It is open from 10am to 6pm.
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