About the Planetarium
The Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi is situated in the green surroundings
of the Teen Murti House, earlier the official residence of India's first Prime
Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and now a museum in his memory. Conscious of the fact
that an understanding of the spirit and method of science was crucial for
children to become responsible citizens, Nehru liked every opportunity to be
provided to them in this endeavor. In 1964, the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund
was set up to promote his ideas and subsequently it undertook to build the Nehru
Planetarium with its primary aim being the promotion of astronomy
education. Nehru Planetarium is now a wing of the Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library.
The Planetarium has been constantly improvising and innovating programmes
for its visitors. Plans are ongoing to upgrade the existing Planetarium equipment to
bring its infrastructure at par with other planetaria in the world.
The strength of the planetarium lies in its live interactions and programs for visitors, students and amateur astronomers. The Planetarium is always active with programs for school and college students and for amateur astronomers. Through out the year, there are a number of workshops or observing activities. There are also Astronomy Quiz and Art competitions in the months of February and August.
The regular programmes of the Planetarium include public shows at 11:30 AM (English), 1:30 PM (Hindi), 3:00 PM (English) and 4:00 PM (Hindi) – There is an additional program in Hindi at 12:30 PM on Sundays. The topics included in these programmes are continuously updated. At present, two programs - The New Solar System and Chandrayaan- Destination Moon are available for public viewing at the planetarium. Watch out for programs on Light Pollution, Multiwavelength Astronomy, Sun our daytime star and Astronomy in the land of Aryabhata, which are the planned new programs in the near future.