Science City, Kolkata is a

science centre A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

and

science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park", "technopark", "technopolis", "technopole", or a "science and technology park" TP is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, India. It is currently the largest science centre in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, containing a

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

, and auditoriums. The centre was inaugurated in two parts, with the ‘Convention Centre Complex’ being the first on 21 December 1996, followed by the rest on 1 July 1997 by the then-prime-minister

Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician, and anti-colonial independence activist, who served as prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by ...

. On 10 January 2010 the prime minister of India,

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

, would attempt to get the second phase of Science City completed.

Galleries

Dynamotion Hall The Dynamotion Hall offers various hands-on and interactive exhibits on wide various scientific topics with exhibits such as: * Illusions. A permanent exhibition on

illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

s, with interactive exhibits, to see how motion and placement affect

visual perception Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

. *

Powers of Ten In mathematics, a power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power ...

. Exhibits illustrate the size of the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

from the smallest to the biggest scales of the known universe by

powers of ten In mathematics, a power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power ...

. * Fresh Water Aquarium. A variety of

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

es in 26 tanks. * Live Butterfly Enclave. A colony of live

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

hatched on site and a screening of a film ''

Rang Bahari Prajapati Rang may refer to: * ''Rang'' (1993 film), a Bollywood romance film * ''Rang'' (2014 film), a Tulu film * Rang (TV channel), an Assamese language television channel * Rang, Doubs, a commune in the Doubs department, France See also * * Ru ...

'' on the life cycle of the butterfly. *

Science On a Sphere Science On a Sphere (SOS) is a spherical projection system created by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It displays high-resolution video on a suspended globe with the aim of better representing global ph ...

. A spherical projection system created by

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

providing shows of 30 minutes duration for around 70 people at a time. Science on Sphere - Dynamotion Hall - Science City - Kolkata 2016-06-20 4822

Earth Exploration Hall

Inaugurated on 6 December 2008 by

Ambika Soni Ambika Soni (born 13 November 1942) is an Indian politician in the Indian National Congress. She has been Minister of Information and Broadcasting. She was a Member of Parliament representing the state of Punjab in the Rajya Sabha. Early life ...

, the then Union Minister for Culture, the Earth Exploration Hall is a permanent exhibition on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, housed in a two storied hemispherical building that displays the details of the southern hemisphere in the ground floor and

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

in the first floor. Slicing a huge earth globe at the centre of the hall into 12 segments vertically in each hemisphere, important features of each segment such as

physical geography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

, lands and people,

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, and other dynamic natural phenomenon on earth are highlighted around the central globe with the modern display technologies, attractive visuals, interactive multimedia, video walls, panoramic videos, tilting tables, computer kiosks, and 3-D effects theatre. Butterfly 7650

Transverse Wave Motion inside Science City

Space Odyssey

A Space Theatre equipped with a Helios Star Ball

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

supported by 150 special effect projectors and an Astrovision 10/70 large format film projection system housed in a 23-meter diameter tilted dome having unidirectional seating arrangements for 360 person immersive shows on space sciences. * 3-D Vision Theater. A show based a on stereo back projection system where visitors experience 3D via Polaroid spectacles. * Mirror Magic. 35 exhibits exploring the reflection of light. * Time Machine. A 30-seater motion simulator provides virtual experiences of space flight or journeys into unknown worlds sitting in a capsule maneuvered by a hydraulic motion control system.

Maritime Centre

The Maritime Centre depicts the maritime history of India, including artifacts, dioramas, and interactive exhibits on shipping and navigation systems.

Science Park

In a tropical country like

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the outdoors is sunny and more inviting than the indoors for most of the year. In a Science Park, people come closer to plants, animals, and other objects in their natural surroundings and also learn about basic principles of science in an open air learning environment. The park's interactive exhibits are engineered so as to tolerate all weather. The Science Park has become an integral part in all the centres of the

National Council of Science Museums National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is an autonomous scientific organization functioning under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for science communication through its network of science museums or science centres spread acr ...

. It comprises a Caterpillar Ride, Gravity Coaster, Musical Fountain, Road Train, Cable Cars, Monorail Cycle, butterfly nursery, and several exhibits on physical and life sciences, as well as a maze. Image:Science city.jpg, Science Park view Image:Science park2.jpg, Science Park Kolkata Image:Ravinder nath thakur.jpg , Rabindranath Tagore art in Science Park

Science Exploration Hall

A 5400 square meter new building was opened in 2016. It provides inquiry based learning to visitors in four sections: * Emerging Technologies * Evolution of Life * Panorama on Human Evolution * Science and Technology Heritage of India Image:Emerging Technologies Gallery - Science Exploration Hall - Science City - Kolkata 2016-02-22 0482.JPG, Emerging Technologies Image:Hacking Space Participants Visit Dark Ride - Science Exploration Hall - Science City - Kolkata 2016-03-29 2945.JPG , Evolution of Life Image:Hacking Space Participants Watch Panorama on Human Evolution - Science Exploration Hall - Science City - Kolkata 2016-03-29 2996.JPG, Panorama on Human Evolution Image:Science and Technology Heritage of India Gallery - Science Exploration Hall - Science City - Kolkata 2016-02-22 0518.JPG, Science and Technology Heritage of India

Other facilities

Convention Centre Complex * Grand Theater: 2232 seating capacity main auditorium with a stage for 100 performers at a time, the largest auditorium in eastern India. * Mini Auditorium: 392 seating capacity, with stage for 30 performers at a time, ideal for smaller conferences and shows. * Seminar Building: Comprising eleven halls, four with seating capacity of 100 persons each, two with seating capacity of 40 persons each, two with seating capacity of 30 persons each, two with seating capacity of 15 persons, and a meeting room for 12 persons, a venue for conferences, seminars, meetings, and workshops.

Transport

Bus

Bus Numbers - AS3, AC12, AC47, EB3, EB14, KB21, 24A/1, 42, 213.

Train

Park Circus railway station on

Sealdah South lines Sealdah South section consists of a set of four lines which connect in Kolkata with its southern suburbs and with the entire South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. It is a part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway and is under the jurisd ...

is the nearest railway station.

Metro

Barun Sengupta metro station Barun Sengupta (also known as Science City), is a station of Orange Line of the Kolkata Metro located at Parama Island in the Dhapa area of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving Dhapa, ITC Royal Bengal, JW Marriott and Science City areas. The ...

(also known as Science City), is an under construction station of the

Kolkata Metro Orange Line Orange Line is a rapid transit metro line of the Kolkata Metro in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It will connect New Garia with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport via two major satellite towns of Kolkata metropolitan region, Bidhan ...

located at Parama Island in the Dhapa area of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving Dhapa,

ITC Royal Bengal ITC Royal Bengal is a Hotel rating, 5-star luxury hotel in Kolkata, India. Located along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, it is the 14th luxury hotel of ITC Hotels. Built on an area of 4.16 lakh (416,000) square feet, the construction cost of th ...

, JW Marriott and Science City areas. The station is named in honour of the founder of Bartaman,

Barun Sengupta Barun Sengupta () (23 January 1934 – 19 June 2008), the founder-editor of ''Bartaman'' newspaper, was a Bengali journalist and popular political critic. He is remembered for his bold and simple diction of political analysing that made him ex ...

. The station is elevated above the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 22, 32, 26, N, 88, 23, 45, E, display=title Museums in Kolkata Science museums in India 1997 establishments in West Bengal Science parks in India