BSIP Museum of Palaeosciences

The BSIP Museum of Palaeosciences is the fossil museum of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, an autonomous research institute of the Department of Science and Technology. It opens its display halls and research laboratories to visiting students and citizens.

The halls hold the fossil plant collection assembled by Professor Birbal Sahni along with type and figured specimens added by institute scientists. Displays include fossilised tree trunks of Triassic and Tertiary age, the institute Foundation Stone with fossils of several geological ages embedded in a marble block, a Geological Time Clock that compresses the history of the Earth into 24 hours, and the stratotype speleothem section from Mawmluh Cave that serves as the global reference point for the Meghalayan Stage.

Institute scientists and museum staff brief visiting groups on what the fossils mean, and many school and college groups continue into the research laboratories to see amber and fossil resin work, radiocarbon dating and scanning electron microscopy. Schools, colleges and university departments make these visits through the year.

The museum is open on weekdays during institute working hours and stays closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Under the institute public disclosure, citizens may visit the museum with the permission of the Director, so a visit is arranged with the institute rather than by walking in. Around National Science Day on 28 February the museum also holds lectures and activities for school and college students.