The M. P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, is an iconic  structure whose architecture is based on the famous Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi. Situated at 96, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, adjacent to St. Paul’s Cathedral and near Victoria Memorial, it is a landmark in the city of Kolkata. The planetarium opened its door on 29th September 1962 and was formally inaugurated on 2nd July 1963 by  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India.

The initial Universal Planetarium Projector from Carl Zeiss, Germany, at the M. P. Birla Planetarium, was operational for approx 100,000 hrs during 52 years from its inception catering to 25 million visitors. To keep pace with modern technology the planetarium has been renovated in 2017 with one of the most advanced Carl Zeiss Hybrid Projection System.

Since 1993 M. P. Birla Planetarium has been brought under the aegis of an institute involved in research and academic activities in astronomy and astro physics. At present the M. P. Birla Institute of Fundamental Research is engaged in planetarium and scientific activities and has been recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR, Govt. of India) as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO).

Planetarium today:

Hybrid Projector: Star Master ZMP Opto Mechanical coupled with 9 Ultra High Resolution VELVET Digital projectors

Dome: 23 metre diameter AstroTec (USA), made from high precision perforated Aluminum sheets

Seats: 570 push back progressively reclining seats in concentric arrangement