THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Kerala Science and Technology Museum and Priyadarshini Planetarium -- one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state capital -- is witnessing a surge in visitors, especially child visitors. Around 13,000 people have visited the planetarium this month until April 12. However, people are leaving the centre with a sour note due to a malfunctioning musical fountain and laserium show, a crowd-puller at the planetarium
According to officials at the planetarium, the musical fountain and laserium, which offers a unique experience of dazzling water and light spectacle, has been lying defunct for months now due to a technical snag in the amplifiers. The show was started at the planetarium in 2014. “We cannot do the show without a proper sound system. While the machine is partially functioning, we want to give the visitors a complete experience. Hence, we stalled it temporarily,” said an official.
Though efforts were made to fix and restart the show for the visitors, the Lok Sabha elections came as a blow. “There is only a minor work that requires around Rs 1 lakh and it was ready for tendering. However, we are unable to award the work now because of the model code of conduct,” said the official. Meanwhile, the new additions at the planetarium, such as the virtual reality booths, have helped increase the influx of visitors by 30%. At present, the planetarium has four VR booths and because of the huge demand, the authorities are planning to increase the number of booths to 15. “We will be introducing three more VR booths immediately. We have put in a lot of effort to bring more people to the planetarium. We also aim to make the planetarium technologically attractive to attract young visitors. During November and December, we had the most visitors beyond what we could manage,” said an official.
The planetarium has tied up with educational institutions to bring in more students. “We are holding regular events and many students are coming here for academic purposes. After the Covid pandemic, the young generation has become more tech savvy and they are used to high resolution content, so it’s not easy to engage them without the latest technology,” the official added.