· The name 'India' is derived from the River
Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan
worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu
·
Chess was invented in
India
·
The 'Place Value System'
and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C
·
India is the largest
democracy in the world, the 7th largest Country in the world, and one of the oldest civilizations
·
The game of Snakes &
Ladders was invented 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
·
The world's highest cricket
ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop,
this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level
·
India has the largest
number of Post Offices in the world
·
The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways,
employing over a million people
·
The world's first
university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students
from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of
Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of
ancient India in the field of education.
·
Ayurveda is the
earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka,
consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
·
India was one of the
richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century . Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea
route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
·
The Art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The word
Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word
·
'NAVGATIH'. The word navy
is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
·
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
· Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also
originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th
century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas
Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific
names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used
number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).
·
When many cultures were
only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan
culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
·
Until 1896, India was the
only source of diamonds in the world
·
The Baily Bridge is the
highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the
Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian
Army in August 1982.
·
Sushruta is regarded as the
Father of Surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted
complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures,
urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries
·
Usage of anaesthesia was
well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy,
embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity
is also found in many ancient Indian texts
·
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. This magnificent temple
was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of
Rajaraja Chola
·
India exports software more
than 90 countries
· The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and
Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population
·
The Persian invaders
converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and
thus refers to the land of the Hindus
·
Jainism and Buddhism were
founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively
·
Islam is India's and the
world's second largest religion.
·
There are 300,000
active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim
world
·
The oldest European church and synagogue in India are
in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively
· Jews and Christians have lived continuously in
India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively
· The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu
Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.
· 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
·
Sikhism originated in the
Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city
was founded in 1577
·
Varanasi, also known as
Banaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in
500 B.C and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today
·
India provides safety for
more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan,
Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political
persecution
· 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
·
Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over
5,000 years
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