Steam Engines, DIY Experiments, And 3D Shows: The City's Tech Museum Will Thrill The Nerd In You

Popular with the kiddies and the kiddies-at-heart, Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum will bring your school books alive.

Sitting at the edge of Cubbon Park, the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum is one of the city’s best known landmarks. If you are looking for an experience that doesn’t involve the same old eating-drinking-watching-a-movie routine, then the museum is a great place to start. You can wander through the many levels reliving your school days and science books while also learning plenty. Stop using the lovely building only to give directions! 

The first level is a favourite with us and possibly the best maintained. At one corner, a 3D, mechanised Spinosaurus bares its ferocious teeth while on another end a replica of the Wright Brothers Flyer is suspended from the ceiling. But the best bit is the gallery showcasing the simple mechanics behind everyday objects like pens, levers, screws and pulleys. We also love the wing dedicated to old-world locomotives like diesel and steam engines.

On the second floor, the displays and interactive experiments unravel concepts in math, perception, optics, and sound. You can see working models of vortexes and hyperbolas while also trying your hand at making colourful liquid paintings and 3D shadows. There’s also a theatre here that screens a 3D show on underwater life {you will have to pay an extra fee for this}. Upstairs, there is a biotechnological section where you can explore human genome sequencing, a wing dedicated to space technology, and a science gallery for the tiny tots.

Unfortunately, the museum isn’t very well maintained all the time. It’s a bit dusty and even smelly. But spray yourself with plenty of perfume, and go explore.