Who are we

Established in 1985 by handful of astronomy enthusiasts, the organization has grown into a membership of 1000+ within past 30 years. Khagol Mandal is a registered organization under “The Societies Act”. Strong volunteer base and continual activity is one of the strongest point of Khagol Mandal.

One of the initial Overnight Sky Observation Programs in the premises of Smt. Durgatai Patole at Vangani. From 1985 to 2015 we were at Vangani…now we shifted to Saguna Baug Neral.

Do join us any Wednesday. We meet at:

Khagol Mandal, 5th Floor, Sadhana Vidyalaya, Near Sion Station, Sion, Mumbai
Every Wednesday, 1830 to 2030 hrs.

The activities of Khagol Mandal include :
•Sky observation programmes.
•Basic and Advanced Astronomy Courses.
•Slide Shows and Lectures on Astronomy.
•Study tours to sites of astronomical importance.
•Production of Video / Audio cassettes on Astronomy.
•Telescope making workshops.

Popularization of Astronomy has been the prime motto of Khagol Mandal. This is being achieved through various public programmes, lectures, study tours and  sky observation programmes. We also have a library of 500 + books on astronomy and numerous instrumentation for field observation.

In our constant endeavor to improve and be innovative, our members have designed models to simplify astronomy and have won accolades for these models as well as photographs at National level.

Some of our members have completed Ph.D. in various Astronomical topics and are well settled in India and abroad in prestigious assignments.
We make special efforts for mass participation at the rare celestial phenomena like Total Solar Eclipse, Astronomical Transits, Occultations, Meteor Showers, Comets etc.

Astrophotography – Our astrophotographs have appeared in leading dailies  in India and also in International publications.

Khagol Mandal Organized special Solar Eclipse observation Tours in year 1995 (Hamirpur in UP), 1999 (Katchh in Rajashtan) and 2010 (Tamilnadu)

In Feb. 2000, we conducted a special “Care Lonar” conference to emphasize on conserving the unique meteorite impact crater in India.

On 14th May 2005, Khagol Mandal presented a prestigeous “Bhaskar Puraskar” award to Prof. Mohan Apte for his outstanding contribution towards Popularization
of Astronomy.

In December 2005, Khagol Mandal received an award from Marathi Vidyan Parishad, for its outstanding contribution towards popularization of Astronomy.

Being a Registered Organisation under the Charity Commissioner, the Khagol Mandal is run by a committee of Managing Trustees. The current committee of  managing trustees was elected in the Annual General Body Meeting dated 15 Sept. 2019 and shall remain functional till 2024 (5 years) and is as follows :

New Committee members with Founder Member Dilip Joshi on 15 Sept 2019

Khagol Mandal is a Charitable Public Trust and the present trustees are:

1) Dr. Varsha Shukla Hon. President
2) Adv. Milind Babar Hon. Vice President
3) Dr. Abhay Deshpande Hon. Secretary
4) Shri. Milind Kale Hon. Treasurer
5) Shri. Ashirwad Tillu Hon. Jt. Secretary
6) Shri. Kiran Ambardekar Member
7) Shri. Pradeep Nayak Member
8) Shri. Sagun Kerkar Member
9) Shri. Anurag Shevade Member

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