2.6.4 Priyadarsini Planetarium, Thiruvananthapuram Building that houses Priyadarsini Planetarium The work of the Priyadarsini Planetarium was initiated by Dr. K. Ramachandran Nair, the Director of the Kerala State Science & Technological Museum in 1984. The foundation of the planetarium was laid by Shri K. Karunakaran, Chief Minister on 10th November 1984in the museum campus. It took ten long years to complete the project by an expenditure of rupees 5 crores. It was Shri K Karunakaran, Chief Minister, Govt. of Kerala again to inaugurate the planetarium on 8th September 1994.
The total land area selected for the complex stretched to 4.5 acres and was provided by the Kerala Govt. The planetarium building was designed by Dr Ramachandra Nair…show more content… A new dome has also been introduced. It is 17 meters in diameter with 150 tilt, manufactured by Astro-Tec Manufacturing Inc., USA. Next is the full dome digital planetarium projection system which is a Power Dome NOVA, Projector design – F32. Still next is the Optomechanical projector Starmaster ZMP-SB. Previously it was Japan, now it is Carl Zeiss of Germany manufacturing the system. The new turn table projection system can rotate around 360 degrees and project around 9,000 stars. Price amounted to 13,30,500 Euros. The sky theatre has a 5.1 surround audio system with mixers, graphic equalizers, and power amplifiers. Price amounted to rupees 1,300…show more content… Last, around 750 shows have been hosted by the Kerala Planetarium. Guess how much hustle and bustle is controlled by the planetarium authorities every year? It is not less than about 1.5 lakh each year. Mr. Arul Jerald Prakash who is currently the Director of the Kerala State Science & Technological Museum and Priyadarsini Planetarium, is a busy man managing this huge assemblage of people every year. To jot down his background, he is an M. Tech and MBA with 30 years of experience in Science