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Telescope making in India
A brief account of telescope making in India
Telescope making in India can be divide in to three parts - professional, amateur and commercial. On the professional scene Mr. A. P. Jayarajan of Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) did pioneering work, first at Kodaikanal and later at Bangalore. It was a dream of Professor M. K. Vainu Bappu to set up a large optical observatory close to the equator. The task of making the mirror for the telescope was assigned to Mr. Jayarajan. Later he was joined by Dr. Ajay K. Saxena, who had then just finished his Ph.D. Prof. Saxena now heads the optical division of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
The optics laboratories at the Uttar Pradesh State Observatory, Nainital; Udaipur Solar Observatory, Udaipur; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahemadabad and some others were also making telescope, small optical elements or in house fabrication/repair of optical instruments.
On the amateur scene, around mid 70's one Mr. B. V. S. Rao and his son Mr. B. S. C. Rao were promoting amateur astronomy and telescope making in Bangalore and Madras. Around mid '80s Dr. P. N. Shankar, who is at the National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore took teaching of telescope making very seriously. He first learnt how to make a six-inch telescope, perfected the technique and wrote a very low cost boon 'How to Build a Telescope'. The book became very popular. And as of now this is the best guide to amateur telescope making. Dr. Shankar conducted many workshops on telescope making, in particular for the teachers in Karnataka. One of the persons who joined the first batch of telescope making workshop was Mr. Dilip Kumar. These days Mr. Kumar carries out this activity in the premises of the planetarium in Bangalore.
Around early and mid 70's two persons were making a commercial venture of telescope making. Mr. P. Devdas in Madras and Mr. Raju Patel in Mumbai (it was Bombay then). Mr. Devdas was an active observer. His telescopes were long focal length instruments for planetary observations. He telescopes are mostly custom made. Mr. Patel took astronomy seriously for his bread and butter (he has advantage of two big 'B'. He leaves in Bombay, the commercial capital of India and he himself comes from the community known for their Business sense). Mr. Patel can sale (almost) anything that an amateur would require.
In 1992 Professor N. C. Rana conducted a telescope-making workshop at IUCAA. About 25 participants from different parts of India made a 6-inch telescope. In 1997 IUCAA started a regular telescope making activity. I will add a separate section on the telescope making activity in IUCAA.
(The above is a very short history of telescope making in India. More will be added to it as soon as I get it. Please help me to update this section. Please, do write to me if I have some information about any aspect of telescope making.)