Astrotourism in India is the phenomenon where tourists visit astronomical observatories in the South Asian republic. There are many astrotourism locations in India. It is a developing part of the Indian tourism industry.
There are many astrotourism locations in India, ranging from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, South India to Andaman Nicobar Islands. Among these, Uttarakhand has the highest number of public and private night sky observatories, such as Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Devasthal in Nainital district. The Uttrakhand government is[ when? ] also setting up observatories at Abbott Mount in Champawat district, Pithoragarh, Kausani, Jadhang (or Jadung, under the Vibrant Villages programme), and Takula (in Nainital). In Uttarakhand, a startup named Starscapes also has private astrotourism observatories at Bhimtal, Kausani, and astrovillage Benital in Chamoli district. [1]
There are more than 100 planetariums in India. Nehru Planetarium is based in five locations at Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, and Prayagraj. The Kalpana Chawla Planetarium is in Jyotisar, Kurukshetra, Haryana. [2] The Starscapes observatory at Mukteshwar in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand is known for stargazing. [3] There are also some stargazing camps organised in Sandhan, Maharashtra. [3]
In 2023, India had more than 15 private observatories for astrotourism that came up in the last five years, many of which have their observatories in multiple locations. Astrostays, a startup, organises astrotourism trips to Pangong in Ladakh. In Karnataka, the Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers (ABAA) meets every Sunday at the Banglore Nehru Planetarium and the Bangalore Astronomical Society (BAS) organizes regular astrotours to the outskirts of cities and to remote locations in India. Starvoirs, a Chennai-based startup, owns private observatories in nine places across the country, including Rameshwaram, Chidambaram, Kodanad, the Andaman Islands, and Nagaland. [1]
Astrotourism's potential in India is underutilised and underdeveloped. There are numerous places in India that could be developed, designated, and preserved as dark sky preserves. For example, Madikeri in Coorg is surrounded by coffee plantations and natural forests and rates 3 (rural sky) on the Bortle scale. The issue of the conservation of dark sky could help conservation of ecology and nocturnal animals, but there is very low awareness of this in India.[ citation needed ] The designation of dark sky preserve by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a 3-year process identifying dark sky areas, preparing a development and conservation plan, and submitting a proposal to IDA for the designation. There is no nationwide plan to systematically develop more dark sky areas with mandatory lighting restrictions. [1]