ASTRO- A WINDOW INTO ETERNITY

                 

            Average malayali psyche is very strange. They will boast of India’s achievement in sending a mission to Mars- And simultaneously will go to a Siva temple to pacify the Gods for the daughter’s chovva dosham. Superstition has dug deep in them that they live with the believes of 18th century although carrying a 3G phone. 

            What is our position in the Universe? Are we alone in this vast stellar expanse? Is there anyone out there to shape our destiny? All these question find answers once we visit ASTRO, a rare phenomena in these days of renovation of decaying temples, at Vellur, atop the Echilamvayal hills. You will get a direct vision of the night sky from there unobstructed by city lights. You can see the deep abysses in the lunar surface, the satellites of planets, comets, distant Galaxies, exploding stars and star clusters, the birth place of new stars.

              Astro is a venture to shake of age old believes. A novel idea put forward by the amateur sky watcher Sri. K. Gangadharan Master took wings when the Kasaragod M P, P Karunakaran extended a helping hand by constructing a building for the society atop echilamvayal hill. A huge telescope was donated by Vellur service co- op bank. The other paraphernalia for sky watching were procured from funds raised from the public. Now the Institution has risen to the rare distinction as the single institution in the State giving thousands of classes to school children and the public, every year. There is no Govt. funding for running the institute and the institution is raising its own funds from the public. The institution is growing fast. There is a display of charts and working models. The sky watching session led by Shri. K Gangadharan Master starts in the evening extending up to midnight to be continued in the early morning next day. After a class at ASTRO every one will be able to locate his position in the Universe. There are thousands of galaxies, milky way, our own galaxy, is a small one among them. In the Milky Way there are thousands of stars and our Sun is a comparatively small star. The new vision gives thousands of new insights.

                 Now the Institute is planning to construct a planetarium. Even though it is a big leap forward, the cost of a conventional planetarium is beyond the scope of an Institution, run on contributions from the public. But Gangadharan Master’s experience in constructing a peoples’ planetarium at Payyanur Gandhi Park a couple of years back, has a solution to offer for the challenge. A permanent people‘s Planetarium could be constructed with five lakh Rupees. A committee comprising of Shri. Pavoor Narayanan as chairman and scientists like Shri. V. P. Balagangadharn(ISRO), Shri. K V Raveendran ,Dr. Siddarthan (ISRO) along with Prof. T. P. Sreedharan, Shri. E. Bhaskaran , Narayanan Master and several prominent figures from public life have joined hands for the materialization of this dream.

                     If you are interested you could join this venture by becoming a life member of the Institution and also by contributing a small sum.
You may reach ASTO either through
                                                www.astropayyanur.org
           And pl email Shri. Gangadharan Master:       kgvellur2003@gmail.com