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Inner Main Hall |
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| Statue of Charles Darwin |
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| Terracota figures on the walls |
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| Skeleton and model of Blue Whale |
We went by train to South Kensington from Baker Street.
There are two more well-known museums located on South Kensington Road: Science
museum and Victoria and Albert Museum. The building has a very imposing façade
built in grand Victorian style. The famous British Architect Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905) designed the structure of this building in Romanesque style This is a publicly funded museum and one has
free entry here. One has to devote at least one full day to see this museum
comprising nearly eighty million items all of which we may not see in such a
short duration. These specimens may be classified into Botanical, Entomological
(scientific study of insects), Paleontological (study of ancient life of pre-historic
plants, mammals, fish, fungi, insects, fungi, microbes and fossils) and
Zoological types. This museum has specialized in Taxonomy (scientific
classification of organisms), identification and conservation. Detailed
information is given about every exhibit on the labels.
This Museum was
established in 1881 and continued as a part of the famous British Museum till
1992 despite its legal separation from the British Museum in 1963.In 1986
Geological Museum became a part of this museum also. In 1996 the museum’s galleries were completely
renovated and re-built. Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, acts as the
chief patron of this world-famous Museum. The massive 2.2 tonne statue of the
famous scientist Charles Darwin unveiled in 1885 is seen in the central hall.
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| Entrance to Earth Zone (Red Zone) |
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| Various types of minerals and rocks |
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| Diplodocus (Dippy) |
Nearly fifty lakh
people visit this museum every year. In the central vaulted hall once the 105
feet-long gigantic skeleton of Diplodocus, called fondly known as Dippy, used
to be displayed. Recently it has been replaced by the 82 foot-long, 4.5 ton Blue Whale skeleton
(called as Hope) in 2017. This mighty Blue Whale was found stranded on the sand
banks at Wexford harbor, Ireland in 1891. This museum has four sections namely Red Zone,
Green Zone, Blue Zone and orange Zone. In the Red Zone one can see the red
revolving globe with a fiery appearance (designed by Neal Potter) serving as
entry to the Earth Lab. One can see various types of volcanic stones, rocks,
minerals and gem stones. The photos and models show the disastrous effects of
earth quakes and volcanoes and their influence in changing the composition of
the earth.
In the Green Zone one can see stuffed models of various birds,
insects and fossils of marine reptiles,creeping worms showcased in glass cases. The fossils of many marine
reptiles and birds are also displayed here.
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| silver studded butterflies |
In the Blue Zone very huge skeletons
of dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Psittacosaurus and
Stegosaurus are seen along with fish like whales, sharks,Amphibians, Reptiles,Human Biology, marine invertebrates, invertebrates and mammals.
The stuffed figures of pachyderms like mammoths and rhinos attract many
visitors by their sheer life-like size and realistic appearance. In human
biology section many models and charts are exhibited on cell formation,
reproductive system and DNA structure. Children will have a chance of knowing a
lot about the wonders and diversity of Nature and how animals and birds adapt
to their surroundings by various changes in their physical shape and structure.
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| Dinosaur |
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| Rhino |
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| Blue Zone in the Whale Hall |
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| Turtle |
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| Reptiles |
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| Extinct giant Armadillo |
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| Plesiosaurus skeleton |
In the Orange Zone one can see wild life garden and the famous Darwin Centre
where one can view the valuable zoological and Botanical collections of Darwin.
In the Library section there are many books, journals, manuscripts, art work
collections on various topics. Access to library is only by appointment. There
are many valuable research papers and books along with specimens for scientists
to pursue their research here. To spread science education and create awareness
about conservation of nature a new multimedia studio (The Attenborough
Studio) in collaboration with B.B.C.’s
Natural History Unit was started. Here daily lectures and demonstrations are
being organized. This studio is named after Richard Attenborough (1923-2014),
the famous English Actor, Film Maker and President of the Royal Academy of
dramatic Art.
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| Darwin center front view |
At every level a café and gift shop are seen
along with basic amenities like rest rooms and benches to relax. In the gift
shops a variety of items like Dinosaur models, wall prints, butterfly
souvenirs, necklaces, pendants, t-shirts, jewelry boxes, picture cards, trays, brooches,
bracelets, guide books, DVDs and photography books are displayed with animal
and bird themes. This will create a sense of awareness about the need for
protection and conservation of various flora and fauna. After visiting this
most spacious museum one will surely become aware of nature’s wonderful variety
and complexity and feel aware of the need for protecting the dwindling number
of living creatures in this world. This Museum has another sister museum "Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum" at Tring,
Hertfordshire built by Lionel Walter Rothschild in 1938 and taken over by Natural History Museum in 2007.
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16th July, 2017 Somaseshu Gutala
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