What are the best facts about India?
Originally Answered: What are some interesting facts about India?
- India has 1650 languages - 30 of which are spoken by more than a million speakers and 122 of which are spoken by more than 10,000. There are 6 distinct language families that go beyond India. In contrast, 95% of Europe comes under a single language family. Most Indians might not know about the Austro-Asiatic Munda languages spoken in the heart of India more related to Vietnamese & Cambodian (http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Mun...), the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Ladakh, Sikkim and North east and that some Dravidian languages are spoken as far away as Baluchistan. - The whole region of Kashmir was "bought" for a measly 7.5 million rupees in the mid 19th century by the Hindu rulers. It even had a bill of sale.
- India has 1200 million people. That is more than the combined population of US, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Japan, UK, Germany, Australia, Italy, Spain and New Zealand! In fact, India's population is larger than any other continent in the world, outside Asia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis... - India has the world's largest attended events. The biggest of which is Kumbha mela of 2001 - attended by 60 million people and was seen from space. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/h
i/scien... - Indian laws make it illegal to carry more than Rs. 5000 in Indian currency out of Indian territory (except Nepal and Bhutan) - http://www.rbi.org.in/scr
ipts/FA... - India invented the game of Chess.
- Himalayas are growing taller at a rate of 2.5 cm per year.
- Although widely accepted and definitely deserved, Mahatma Gandhi is never officially designated as the father of the nation by the Indian government. http://www.deccanherald.c
om/cont... - Indian railways transports 20 million people every day on short and long distance transport.
- The official name of our country in local languages is Bharat and written as such in all Hindi communications of the government. This name is 1000s of years old and is named after the mythical emperor of Bharat. http://en.wikipedia.org/w
iki/Nam... - India has the wettest place on Earth - Cherrapunji receiving 463 inches of rain every year. Sometimes its neighbor Mawsynram is also claimed as the wettest place.
- India's cinema industry is more than US and Canada combined in terms of ticket sales of 3.2 billion per year. And if you include the pirated movie industry, the movie industry is the biggest in the world.
- Since its independence in 1947, India has fought 8 main wars - 4 with Pakistan, 1 with China, 1 with Portugal (to take Goa), 1 with Hyderabad Nizam to take the territory into India and 1 in Maldives to restore government rule. http://en.wikipedia.org/w
iki/Lis... - The Kashmir dispute is a tri-party dispute between India-Pakistan-China and 5 distinct territories of Kashmir. Yellow territory has the world's highest mountains - including K2 and integrated into Pakistan, Brown territory is one gifted by Pakistan to China, Blue territory is one India has in its maps but has never ever been into. The Red territory is where all the action is.
Originally Answered: What are some interesting facts about India?
- Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here
- Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.
- Most populous democracy in the world- 1.2 billion people
- Taj Mahal of India has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."
- The Indian film industry produces the world's most-watched cinema
- India has the world's highest concentration of vegetarians
- 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. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite.
- The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called ‘Mokshapat’. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
- India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.
- Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
- Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
- The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
- Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over 2,600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.
- There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.
- The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world’s largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.
- His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.
- Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.
-Anuj
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Originally Answered: What are some interesting facts about India?
The Free Kitchen (Langar) at the Golden Temple Feeds up to 100,000 People a Day for Free.
The langar or kitchen at the Golden Temple is said to be the biggest free eatery in the world, and apparently it is hard to dispute this claim. What makes the langar even more remarkable is that the food is prepared and distributed mostly by unpaid helpers. More than 1000 volunteers come up for this virtuous deed daily.
This is unarguably the best religious practice that I have come across. Community kitchens not only serve free food to countless of those in need but they also dismantle social barriers by insisting everyone to eat, cook and serve food together.
Sources :
1. Kitchen that feeds 100,000 daily
2. Golden Temple Sikhs Put Their Faith In Feeding 100,000 A Day | India | Cameron Stauch
3. The "langar" or free kitchen at Golden Temple
Originally Answered: What are some interesting facts about India?
I don't think many people know this but at one time there were two currencies operating in India.... One as you all may know was the Indian National Rupee and the other was theHyderabadi Rupee.
The Government of Hyderabad had made several state led efforts to organize private bankers and local 'saukars' in the Dominion to set up a banking company which could issued paper money. But the Britishers resisted this idea. But in wake of the WW1, the British agreed and the first Hyderabadi Rupee (Paper currency that is) was issued in 1918. The currency was designated the Osmania Sicca(OS).
When the Indian Rupee was introduced in 1950, the OS were still in use, and the relationship of 7 Hyderabad rupees = 6 Indian rupees was used. In 1951, the issue of the Hyderabadi Rupee was ceased, but they weren't demonetized untill 1959.
So, from 1950 to 1959, two types of rupees existed in India.
Hyderabadi rupee
The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money
The Government of Hyderabad had made several state led efforts to organize private bankers and local 'saukars' in the Dominion to set up a banking company which could issued paper money. But the Britishers resisted this idea. But in wake of the WW1, the British agreed and the first Hyderabadi Rupee (Paper currency that is) was issued in 1918. The currency was designated the Osmania Sicca(OS).
When the Indian Rupee was introduced in 1950, the OS were still in use, and the relationship of 7 Hyderabad rupees = 6 Indian rupees was used. In 1951, the issue of the Hyderabadi Rupee was ceased, but they weren't demonetized untill 1959.
Hyderabadi rupee
The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money
Uddipta Ghosh, The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know
Upvoted by Pranay Agarwal, Medical Student
Originally Answered: What are some interesting facts about India?
That there are people of African origins living in India for the last 1400 years.
Yes she is not African,she is Indian
She too
Yes they dance in Indian festivals too
They are known as Siddi. The following is copied from the Wikipedia article on Siddi:
At the end whatever may be there Genes are,
They are all part of World's Largest Democracy,India
Other references:-
Siddis of Karnataka
African by origin, Indian by nationality and Gujarati by speech
In pictures: India's African communities, Mystery
Yes they dance in Indian festivals too
They are known as Siddi. The following is copied from the Wikipedia article on Siddi:
Members are descended from Bantu peoples from Southeast Africa that were brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by Arab and Portuguese merchants.The Siddi community is currently estimated at around 20,000–55,000 individuals, with Karnataka, Gujarat and Hyderabad as there main population centres.Siddis are primarily Sufi Muslims, although some are Hindus and others Roman Catholic Christians.
History:-The first Siddis are thought to have arrived in India in 628 AD at the Bharuchport. Several others followed with the first Arab Islamic invasions of the subcontinent in 712 AD.The latter group are believed to have been soldiers with Muhammad bin Qasim's Arab army, and were called Zanjis.
While most of these migrants became Muslim and a small minority became Christian, very few became Hindu since they could not find themselves a position in the traditional Hindu caste hierarchy.
Flag of the Siddis from Murud-Janjira an important vassal of the Mughal Empire.
In Western India the Siddi gained a reputation for physical strength and loyalty, and were sought out as mercenaries by local rulers, and as domestic servants and farm labour Some Siddis escaped slavery to establish communities in forested areas, and some even established small Siddi principalities on Janjira Island and at Jaffrabad as early as the twelfth century.In the Delhi Sultanate period prior to the rise of the Mughals in India, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut was a prominent Siddi slave-turned-nobleman who was a close confidant of Razia Sultana (1205–1240 CE). Although this is disputed, he may also have been her lover.
As a power centre, Siddis were sometimes allied with the Mughal Empire in its power-struggle with the Maratha Confederacy.However, Malik Ambar, a prominent Siddi figure in Indian history at large, is sometimes regarded as the "military guru of the Marathas", and was deeply allied with them.He established the town of Khirki which later became the modern city of Aurangabad, and helped establish the Marathas as a major force in the Deccan. Later, the Marathas adapted Siddi guerrilla warfare tactics to grow their power and ultimately demolish the Mughal empire.
Siddis of Gujarat:-
Supposedly presented as slaves by the Portuguese to the local Prince, Nawab of Junagadh, the Siddis also live around Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, the last refuge in the world of the almost extinct Asiatic Lions, inJunagadh a district of the state of Gujarat, India.
Siddi Folk Dancers
Although Gujarati Siddis have adopted the language and many customs of their surrounding populations, some African traditions have been preserved. These include the Goma music and dance form, which is sometimes called Dhamaal .The term is believed to be derived from the Ngoma drumming and dance forms of Bantu East Africa.The Goma also has a spiritual significance and, at the climax of the dance, some dancers are believed to be vehicles for the presence of Siddi saints of the past.
Siddis of Karnataka:-
The Siddis of Karnataka are an ethnic group of mainly Bantu descent that has made Karnataka their home for the last 400 years. There is a 50,000 strong Siddhi population across India, of which more than a third live in Karnataka.
In Karnataka,they are concentrated around Yellapur, Haliyal, Ankola, Joida, Mundgod and Sirsi taluks of Uttara Kannada and in Khanapur of Belgaum and Kalghatgi of Dharwad district.
It has been reported that these Siddis believe that Barack Obama shares their genepool and that they wanted to gift a bottle of honey to him on his visit to India in 2010.
Siddis of Hyderabad:-In the 18th century, a Siddi community was established in Hyderabad State by the Arab Siddi diaspora, who would frequently serve as cavalry guards of the Asif JahiNizam's irregular army. The Asif Jahi Nizams patronised them with rewards and the traditional Marfa music gained popularity and would be performed during official celebrations and ceremonies.The Siddis of Hyderabad have traditionally resided in the A.C. Guards (African Cavalry Guards) area near Masjid Rahmania, known locally as Siddi Risala.
At the end whatever may be there Genes are,
They are all part of World's Largest Democracy,India
Other references:-
Siddis of Karnataka
African by origin, Indian by nationality and Gujarati by speech
In pictures: India's African communities, Mystery
Originally Answered: What are some amazing facts about India?
TAKSHASHILA : WORLD'S FIRST UNIVERSITY
Amazing fact about this is that the soil spread across the campus of this University was Salty because, 1000s of students who didn't get admission here cried for days in the campus.
About the University,
India has a long and venerable history in the field of higher education. In ancient times, the country was known to have been home to the oldest formal universities in the world.
The world's first University was established in Takshila or Taxila or Takshashila (now in Pakistan) in 700BC. This centre of learning was situated about 50 km west of Rawalpindi in Pakistan. It was an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist center of learning. It was not a well organized university like Nalanda.
- 68 different streams of knowledge were on the syllabus.
- More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied here.
- The campus accommodated students who came from as far as Babylonia, Greece, Arabia and China and offered over sixty different courses in various field such as science, mathematics, medicine, politics, warfare , astrology, astronomy, music, religion, and philosophy.
- Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. Students would come to Takshila and take up education in their chosen subject with their teacher directly.
They were supposed to pay for their expenses. However, if a student was unable to pay then he could work for his teacher. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science.
- Takshila was specialized in the study of medicine.
During the 800 years that the university was operational, it attained great fame. Its campus was one mile in length and a half-mile in width. It also had 300 lecture halls with stone benches for sitting; laboratories and other facilities were also available. For example, the university had a towering observatory called the Ambudharaavlehi for astronomical research. It has boasted a massive library called Dharma Gunj or Mountain of Knowledge that was set up in three buildings named Ratna Sagar, Ratnodavi and Ratnayanjak.
The entrance examination was very difficult and the pass rate was 3 out of every 10 students.
Lecture Hall
- Panini, the famous Sanskrit grammarian, Kautilya (Chanakya) and Charaka, the famous physician of ancient India, and Chandragupta Maurya were the products of this university. It gained its importance again during the reign of Kanishka. It was probably, the earliest of the ancient seats of higher education. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself.
Being near the north-west frontier of India, Takshashila had to face the brunt of attacks and invasions from the north and the west. Thus the Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Shakas and Kushanas laid their destructive marks on this institution. The final blow, however, came from the Huns (also the destroyers of the Roman Empire) who, A.D. c.450, razed the institution. When the Chinese traveller Huen T’sang (A.D. 603-64) visited Takshashila, the town had lost all its former grandeur and international character. (1974)
Renowned archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham rediscovered the ruins of Takṣaśilā in mid-19th century.
Edit :
Few comments made me write this, The salty soil mentioned above is not stated anywhere in the books but I have learnt it from a Renowned Indian saint. It can be a myth.
I believed it because I don't doubt his knowledge about the history.
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