Birla Science Museum

B. M. Birla Science Museum is an Indian science museum located in Khairatabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

Constructed by civil engineer Mr. P. A. Singaravelu, it comprises a planetarium, museum, science center, art gallery as well as a dinosaurium. The museum itself was the second phase of the science center when it opened in 1990.

The Birla Planetarium is a wing of the Science Center. The planetarium was inaugurated by Mr. N.T. Rama Rao, on 8 September 1985 and is one of three Birla Planetariums in India. The others are the M.P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata and B.M. Birla Planetarium in Chennai.

The Dinosaurium is the newest addition to the planetarium and science center and opened in 2000.
Its exhibits include a 160-million-year-old mounted Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis, excavated at Adilabad district in Telangana and presented to the Science Museum by the Geological Survey of India.

The Dinosaurium also has a collection of smaller fossils of dinosaur eggs, marine shells and fossilised tree trunks.The Dinosaurium was the next phase of the Centre. A unique Natural History Gallery, the Dinosaurium was dedicated to the nation in July 2000. It is a truly breathtaking facility which displays a rare and magnificent fossil of the Dinosaur, Kotasaurus, belonging to the Lower Jurassic age, going back to about 160 million years.

After accumulating the skeletal remains of a dinosaur, fish, eggs and a tree trunk dating back to millions of years, the B.M. Birla Science Centre is now planning to set up a gallery for minerals and rocks.

The Science Centre seeks to gather about 50 to 60 samples of minerals and rocks from different parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and showcase them by setting up a separate gallery.

“Both the States have a rich and varied mineral and rock representation and different regions boast of a different presence. We intend to acquire a representative sample and showcase them,” said B.G. Sidharth, Director, Birla Science Centre.

The Gallery of Minerals from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would have samples that have been picked up by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) over the decades. “There is very little awareness on mineral and rock diversity of both States and this initiative will create knowledge for the general public on the mineral wealth here,” he said. Meanwhile, the Dinosaurium at Science Centre, which will be completing 15 years in a couple of months, continues to be a major draw. The skeletal remains of a 160-million-year-old mounted dinosaur, over 44 ft in length and 16 ft in height, is the main attraction here.

The Palaeontology wing of the GSI during excavations at Yamanapally site in Adilabad district had gathered more than 840 skeletal parts of the Sauropod dinosaur between 1974 and 1980. The remains were found to belong to 12 individual dinosaurs from a single species and the GSI team named them ‘Kotasaurus Yamanpalliensis’. Interestingly, the skull of the mounted dinosaur skeleton came as a gift from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The Dinosaurium also has on display flora and fauna from the early Jurassic Age, including a fish fossil that measures 12 cm, a tree trunk standing over 4 ft and a few leaves. “All these date back to 160 million years and were found during excavations at Yamanapally,” said Dr. Sidharth. And completing a trip down the Jurassic Age here happens to be a nest with four dinosaur eggs!

Address: Ambedkar Colony, Khairatabad, Hyderabad, Telangana 500004, India

Timings: 11.30 AM to 8 PM

Birla Planetarium Hyderabad Show Timings: (11:30 AM - English) | (12:15 PM - Telugu) | (03:00 PM - Telugu) | (04:00 PM - English) | (05:00 PM - Telugu) | (06:00 PM - English) | (06:45 PM - Telugu) | (07:30 PM - Hindi)

Birla Planetarium Entry Fee : Rs.80/-
Combo (Planetarium + Science Museum): Rs.150/-

Source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birla_Science_Museum
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/plans-afoot-to-expand-birla-science-centre/article7083545.ece