Celebrating Freedom

In just a couple of days India will be celebrating its 68th Indepence Day. We all know the rich history of this country, KGD-Architecture lists 50 lesser known facts about India, lets see how many of you know these:

Indian Flag

 

The name `India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the first inhabitants of India.

North Korea, South Korea, Bahrain and Republic of the Congo share their independence day with India.

India is the world’s largest producer of tea, milk and mangoes and also the second largest producer of wheat and rice, the world’s major food staples.

Lord Krishna and Radha playing chess, which was known as Chaturanga in ancient days

 

Ancient board of Snakes and Ladder ( depicted in Jain Miniature)

“Chess” and “Snakes and Ladders” were invented in India.

India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history.

The world’s largest road network is in India-over 1.9 million miles of roads cover the country.

Cherrapunji (Meghalaya) is the wettest spot on earth. It receives at least 425 inches of rain every year, which is over 5 times more than the tropical rain forests of South America!

With around 155,618 post offices and over 566,000 employees, India has the largest postal network in the world.

Indian Railways is the single largest civilian employer in the world, with over a million employees.

State Bank of India has the maximum number of branches in the world, with the number being over 15,000 and counting.

The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, who also explained the Pythagorean Theorem.

India is one of only three countries that makes supercomputers (the US and Japan are the other two).

Navi Mumbai Skyline

Navi Mumbai, a planned satellite township of Mumbai, was developed in 1972 and is the largest planned township on the planet.

India produces more movies than any other country in the world and Bollywood is the largest film industry in the world.

The B in “Bollywood” comes from Bombay, the former name for Mumbai. Almost all Bollywood movies are musicals.

There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

India has no National Language. Hindi and English are the official languages of India. The government also recognizes 22 other languages and about 1,652 dialects are spoken in the country

The official Sanskrit name for India is Bharat Ganarajya. Even today, it is often called Bharat by young and old.

Because so many Indians speak English, India now has the largest population of English speakers in the world.

India shares land borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are neighboring ocean countries.

100 million people come to India’s Kumbh Mela Festival, in Allahabad, the world’s biggest gathering of humans.

India was the only known source of diamonds until diamonds were discovered in Brazil in the 1700s

Every major world religion is represented in India. Additionally, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all originated in India.

About 80% of Indians are Hindu. Muslims are the largest minority in India and form approximately 13% of the country’s population. In fact, India has the third largest population of Muslims in the world, after Indonesia and pakistan.

The banyan, or Indian fig tree, is considered a symbol of immortality and is mentioned in many Indian myths and legends. This self-renewing plant is India’s national tree.

Sushruta performing a plastic surgery

Most historians agree that the first recorded account of plastic surgery is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts.

The Himalaya includes the highest peak in the world—Everest. The mountain range stretches about 1,500 miles long and is over 29,029 ft at its highest.

There are 27 UNESCO heritage sites in India. These protected areas help to protect the long culture and history of the country.

The Indian flag is ‘tri colored’. Saffron—courage and sacrifice; white—truth, peace, and purity; green—prosperity. The Ashok Chakra—righteousness.

The national animal is the Royal Bengal Tiger. Nearly extinct, it enjoys a national reserve where it is protected.

The Ganga is the longest river in India and is considered sacred by Hindus. It has the most populated river basin in the world.

India is home to the world’s largest pilgrimage destination called the Vishnu Temple. The temple is located in the city of Tirupati. About an average of 30,000 people visit this temple donating about $6 million US dollars, everyday.

Yoga originated in India about 5,000 years ago.

India is one of six countries that has launched satellites.

Ayurveda is known to mankind as being the “earliest school of medicine”. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated this form of medicine about 2500 years ago.

Aerial View of Nalanda University, Bihar

Nalanda University was one of the world’s first residential universities. It accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced.

The highest bridge in the world is the Bailey bridge, which is situated in Ladakh between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountain range.

The only country in the world that has a Bill of Rights for Cows is India.

The longest station name on the Indian Railways is Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta.

Everyday more than 4000 Dabbawallas pick up more than 100,000 lunches at homes in Mumbai, India, and deliver their lunches to their places of work with an accuracy rate of 99.99%

When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’ were developed in India in 100 B.C.

The World’s First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu

Islam is India’s and the world’s second largest religion.

The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively

Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577

Ancient sketch of Benaras

Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called “the Ancient City” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is one of the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today

India experiences six seasons: summer, autumn, winter, spring, summer monsoon, and winter monsoon

Skin bleaching is a multi-million dollar business in India.

 

Hope you enjoyed our little ‘gyan’ on this day! Share with us if you know any other interesting facts about India.

Jai Hind and Happy Independence Day!