Planet Earth Aquarium

About Planet Earth Aquarium

Just off the Old KRS Road on the way to the KRS dam, tucked behind the Infosys campus in Mysore, sits a family attraction that combines two things you would not normally expect to find under one roof: a proper aquarium and a working small farm. Planet Earth Aquarium opened its doors in 2016, and its entrance alone, decorated with elaborate fish and coral carvings, sets the tone for what is essentially a themed day out spread across four acres.

The centrepiece is a collection of around 150 varieties of freshwater and marine fish, ranging from familiar names like goldfish and catfish to more exotic residents such as lionfish, stingrays, eels and lobsters, alongside a scattering of starfish tanks that tend to be a hit with younger visitors. Beyond the tanks, the property doubles as something close to a petting zoo, home to rabbits, small rodents, an iguana, parrots, pigeons, chickens, ducks, kittens, dogs, cattle, goats and sheep. A small gallery of miniature pencil art and a sea shell collection round out the indoor attractions, while an organic farm section on the grounds grows vegetables, fruit and other crops on open display, giving city kids a rare close-up look at where their food actually comes from.

For anyone wanting more than a walk-through, the property runs a separate activity area with a horse ride, a zip line, bow-and-arrow shooting and remote-control cars, along with a small playground, though each of these comes with its own extra charge on top of entry. Outside food is not allowed on the premises, but an on-site shop covers the basics with ice cream, tea, coffee, badam milk and light snacks, which is usually enough to get a family through a couple of hours without needing to step out.

There is a quieter, more educational purpose behind all the fish tanks and farm animals too. For many visiting children from Mysore and Bangalore, this is often their first real look at species like lionfish or a live iguana outside of a textbook or a screen, and the same goes for watching vegetables actually growing in soil rather than arriving pre-packaged from a store. The aquarium does not market itself as a conservation or education centre in the way a proper zoo might, but in practice it fills a similar gap for city families who rarely get this kind of direct, close-up exposure to either marine life or working agriculture.

Given its location just off the road to the KRS dam, most visitors treat Planet Earth Aquarium as one stop on a longer day out rather than a standalone destination. Pairing it with the dam itself, or with the Brindavan Gardens nearby, means you can cover an aquarium, a major reservoir and a well-known garden in a single day trip from Mysore, which is exactly how a lot of local families and IT-corridor weekenders from the nearby Infosys campus tend to plan their visit.

Weekday mornings tend to be the quietest time to visit, since school groups and weekend family crowds are the two things most likely to make the walkways feel busy. If you are travelling with young children specifically for the animal encounters, it is worth budgeting a little extra beyond the base entry fee, since almost every hands-on activity here, from the iguana photo to the horse ride, carries its own separate charge.

Attractions like this one have quietly multiplied around Mysore and the broader Bangalore-Mysore corridor over the past decade, largely on the back of demand from IT-sector families looking for an easy weekend outing that keeps children engaged without requiring a long drive or a full day of planning. Planet Earth Aquarium fits neatly into that niche: it is small enough to see in a couple of hours, varied enough to hold a child's attention across fish, farm animals and hands-on activities, and close enough to both Mysore city and the Infosys campus that it works equally well as a weekend trip or a quick after-work stop for local families.

Activities, Fees & Timings

Activity Area: Horse Ride, Zip Line, Bow and Arrow, Remote car, and a small playground (extra charges apply). No outside food is allowed; the on-site shop sells ice cream, tea, coffee, badam milk and snacks.

Entry Fees: Kids 3–5 yrs ₹50; Kids 6–10 yrs ₹75; Kids 11+ & Adults ₹100 (photo with the Iguana is ₹100 extra).
Timings: Mon–Fri 10:00 AM–6:00 PM; Sat/Sun/Holidays 10:00 AM–7:00 PM.

A quick tip for planning: entry fees and activity charges are collected separately, so it helps to work out roughly which activities your family wants before joining the queue, rather than deciding on the spot.