Regional Museum of Natural History

The Regional Museum of Natural History stands on the banks of Karanji Lake, below Chamundi Hill, on a 5.25-acre site next to the zoo. It was set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and its galleries were opened on 20 May 1995 - one of a small number of regional natural history museums in the country, and the one that covers southern India.

There are three galleries. Biological Diversity runs through the habitats of the region - the Western Ghats, tropical rainforest, wetland, mangrove and marine - and the plants, animals and geology found in each. Life Through the Ages is a walk-through tunnel on the evolution of life, from the origins of the earth onward. The Discovery Centre is the hands-on room, with specimens visitors may handle, a vivarium, a mini weather station and computers.

Outside there is a botanical garden of local trees and Ayurvedic medicinal plants, with an interpretative trail laid out for visitors who are blind or partially sighted - the first museum garden in India designed that way. The building has wheelchair access, a library and a cafeteria.

The museum is open from 10am to 6pm and is closed on Mondays. Entry is free. It sits within walking distance of Karanji Lake and the zoo, and the three are easily seen together in a morning.