B M Birla Planetarium

The B M Birla Planetarium is one of the first planetariums established in India. It was inaugurated by Late NT Rama Rao, Chief Minister of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh now Telangana on 8th September 1985. It also marked the setting up of the BM Birla Science Centre as well.

An Opto-mechanical projection system was installed when the planetarium was inaugurated. In an almost pitch dark dome this system gave a feeling of closeness with the cosmos. It used various other equipment to enhance the content and show experience. Mostly it used analog devices for the enhancement.

The Opto-mechanical projection system was upgraded to a completely digital projection system in 2019 during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the GPBAASRI. This projection system allows to project full dome immersive and cinematic experience planetarium shows to the viewers. The stunning visuals keep the viewers glued to their seat.

The B M Birla Planetarium completed its 36 years of successful operation on the 8th Sept 2022. During this journey it has catered to more than 90 lakh visitors. The planetarium is ranked highly amongst the planetariums in India. It is the most visited planetarium and the one holding largest number of shows per day.

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The universe is, perhaps, one of the longest standing mysteries for human civilization. Since the evolution of humankind we have been pondering about the nature of space and time and have only recently been able to partly understand it.

Space has always been an intriguing topic for all. Exploring the Universe to find out whether there are other intelligent beings has been the desire of human. Space exploration started with many questions in our mind and with several missions by various countries, including India, some got answers but the bigger picture still remains unknown. Over the years the technology of Space Exploration has changed worldwide and India has also become a leader in Space Technology.

The BM Birla Planetarium is a facility for inculcating scientific temper amongst amateurs, general masses and students in particular. Diligent and meticulous delivery of the recent facts related to Space and Astronomy and disseminating knowledge about the mysteries and discoveries in our vast universe happens regularly through the ‘News Board’ activity. Apart from this special interactive sessions are also organized for students.

Interactive exhibits and info-graphics have been added in the foyer area of the Planetarium to keep the visitors engaged while they wait for their turn to enter the dome and enjoy the immersive full dome experience.

The planetarium conducts courses on astronomy. Exhibitions, outreach activities and other astronomy related programmes are also organized during specific celestial events and astronomy & space related commemorative days.

Sky Show

The BM Birla Planetarium has been producing sky shows on different themes for the past more than three decades, accentuating relevant astronomical facts, events and achievements. More than 34 shows have been produced, all of which have been highly praised by the heterogeneous audience.

With the change in the projection system now full dome immersive cinematic experience shows are shown which covers various topics of Space Science. The shows portray formation of galaxies, nebulas, clusters and evolution of the Universe in a full dome presentation. Some of the news shows were on Mars-1001, the Indian Moon Mission – Chandrayaan, from Earth to the Universe etc. The shows are changed in regular intervals to keep the repeat visitors engaged.

Sky shows at the planetarium are about 35-40 minutes and run back-to-back during working hours all days of the week. The timings are as follows: