It is indeed a stupendous task to keep disseminating science to people for 25 long years. The Regional Science Centre, Tirupati (RSCT), touted to be a unique facility in Andhra Pradesh, has reached that milestone.
Marking its silver jubilee year, the centre has opened an exhibition tracing its evolution, the memorable moments and the ups and downs encountered in its tedious journey. Of all the exhibitions it organised so far, the year-long expo on its own accomplishments is amazing.
Set up by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), coming under the Union Ministry of Culture, the RSCT was opened to the public on September 23, 1993, by the then President Shankar Dayal Sharma, in the presence of the Governor Krishna Kant and Chief Minister Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy. The 24th science centre in the country, RSCT was packed with fun-filled activities and exciting presentations that enthralled both children and adults alike, where science was neither taught nor driven home, but was diffused in a simple way through hands-on experiments.
The indoor exhibition was developed thematically on topics such as Fun science, Popular science and Motion. The students of Tirupati were, for the first time, exposed to a unique way of learning science in an interactive way. The galleries on ‘Science behind belief’, ‘Our senses’, ‘Illusion’, ‘Emerging technology’, ‘Prehistoric life park’ and ‘Our universe’ were subsequently added at various points of time.
The Space exposition hall and innovation space added last year, which houses a digital planetarium and interactive exhibits on astronomy, brings a sense of totality to the centre. Thematic travelling exhibitions on ‘Eye in the sky’, ‘Indian women in science’, ‘Nobel laureates’, ‘Astronomical observatory’, ‘Biodiversity’, ‘Message from heaven’, etc., might have stayed for short durations, but had left a lasting impact on the visitors.
“Commemorating silver jubilee, we will open a new exhibition on ‘Non conventional energy resources’ and also bring in new-age digital experiences such as virtual reality and augmented reality, in tune with the changes happening across the world,” says centre project coordinator R. Manigandan.
Popular lectures are also being planned throughout the year.