In order to honour Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, the All India Manufacturers’ Organisation, Mysore State Board, decided to set up a science and technology museum at Bangalore, and the foundation stone was laid by Shri B. D. Jatti, Chief Minister of Mysore, on 15 September 1958. The Visvesvaraya Industrial Museum Society came to be registered as the nodal agency in order to pool resources from various industrial houses. A building with a display space of, which was constructed in Cubbon Park, houses displays of industrial products and engines. It was inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, on 14 July 1962. However, the society felt that the southern region lacked a science museum. The eastern region already had a science museum in Calcutta under CSIR, which was quite popular, and on the Society's request CSIR took over VITM. The society nominated a permanent representative to the executive committee of VITM, and on 27 July 1965, VITM opened in Bangalore with the first gallery on the theme of ‘Electricity’. In the year 1970, VITM launched the Mobile Science Exhibition with 24 participatory exhibits mounted on a bus. The MSE Bus travels throughout South India, and it continues to be a very effective tool for Science communication in the rural area as the bus carries with it a portable planetarium, telescope for night sky observations, HD large screen TV for science film shows in the evenings, materials for conducting popular science shows and demonstrations aimed towards the general populace. In 1978, the science museums/centres including VITM were delinked from CSIR and brought under a newly formed society registered on 4 April 1978 as National Council of Science Museums. In 1979, an extension was added to the building, increasing the total area of the museum to. NCSM set up three additional science centers at Gulbarga in 1984, Tirunelveli in 1987 and Tirupati in 1993, which are functioning under the direct administrative control of VITM. Thus, VITM has become the southern zone headquarters of NCSM. The museum attracts nearly one million visitors a year, and is open on all days from 09:30 to 18:00.
Exhibition galleries
Engine Hall exhibits engines of various cars, machines used in industry, a jet aircraft engine, and other mechanical devices. The predictability and precision of mechanics is demonstrated by the rolling balls that travel endlessly within metal tracks.
The How Things Work gallery is an attempt to explain the fundamentals of machines through interactive exhibits. Exhibits include the pulley system, gears, different ways of transferring motion, reducing effort by levers, inclined planes, and screws. Another section deals with the application of these simple machines in daily life.
The Fun Science gallery that displays exhibits on the science of sound, optics, fluids, math and perception.
The Space – Emerging Technology in the Service of Mankind gallery showcases the achievements of the Indian Space Program. It was inaugurated on 19 June 1999. The Gallery was renovated with guidance of Indian Space Research Organization and reopened as Space Technology on 28 November 2017 by A. S. Kiran Kumar and Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan. It is the first Science Gallery in India dedicated to Space and Space Technology.
The Biotechnological Revolution hall has exhibits on the basics of biotechnology and its applications, including human genome sequencing. It opened on 4 January 2003.
The BEL Hall of Electronics was inaugurated on 29 June 2004 in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Ltd. This gallery has exhibits on the basic principles of electronics and information technology.
The 'Science for Kids' gallery was inaugurated on 19 April 2019. This is a space designed for kids, where they can explore science in a fun-filled way. There are exhibits on Our Senses, about animals, colours, light, sound etc apart from interactive toys. There is an exhibit where kids can take photos of themselves with life-size animal models. 'Mirror maze' is another attraction in this gallery.
The Dinosaur Alive exhibit has a moving replica of a Spinosaurus. This pneumatically-operated dinosaur can move its head, hands and tail and roll its eyes at the visitors.
The Science on a Sphere facility was opened on 28 July 2014, in celebration of the golden jubilee of VITM.
The Wright Brothers exhibit, also added in 2014, includes a 1:1 scale model of the Wright Brothers’ Flyer, fabricated in-house, and a flight simulator.
In addition to these exhibits, the museum includes a science show hall, a 3D theatre, a 250-seat auditorium, a telemedicine facility, an 11' Celestron telescope with GPS, and a cafeteria. VITM has developed travelling exhibitions including The World of Astronomical Observatories, The Life and Work of Sir C. V. Raman, Nanotechnology, and TheLife and Work of Sir M Visvesvaraya. VITM also hosts, on a regular basis, travelling exhibitions that are developed by other units of NCSM such as Science of Sports, Giants from the Backyard, Chemistry, Disaster - Preparing for the Worst, and Radiations Around Us.
