The reality of the museum began with the germ of an idea born in the mind of a visionary journalist and nationalist, Mr. B N Guptha. Having travelled widely and inspired by museums in the West like the Smithsonian, he came up with the idea of establishing a similar museum in Bengaluru in 1958.
VITM was opened to the public on July 14, 1962 by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the presence of scientific and political luminaries. The museum proudly housed various industrial products and engines.
Under the steady stewardship of CSIR, there was a significant transformation in the museum’s character; from being an industrial museum, it also became a science museum. In fact, VITM counts its birthday as July 27, 1965 – the day the first gallery was inaugurated.
With the setting up of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) in 1978, VITM came under its aegis. Apart from significantly ramping up the activities in the museum in Bengaluru, NCSM made VITM its nodal centre for South India and encouraged the setting up of science centres with state-of-the-art exhibits and activities. Thus, VITM has an influential role of moulding public interest in science in the southern part of the country.
