150 Incredible Facts About India

150 Incredible Facts About india - My India My Pride

Chess was invented in India.
Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world
Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.
India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
India is where the game of Kabaddi originated, and the Indian national Kabaddi team makes sure it brings all the 5 World Cup trophies home. The women's Kabaddi team has also remained undefeated in all the Kabaddi World Cups.
India was the first country to develop extraction and purifying techniques of sugar. Many visitors from abroad learnt the refining and cultivation of sugar from us.
Shakuntla Devi was given this title after she demonstrated the calculation of two 13 digit numbers: 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779 which were picked at random. She answered correctly within 28 seconds.
Rabindranath Tagore is credited not only for writing the Indian national anthem, Jana Gana Mana but the Bangladeshi national anthem, Amar Sonar Bangla, as well. He was also offered a knighthood by the British but refused the honour after the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
After defeating Germany 8-1 in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Major Dhyan Chand, the wizard of hockey, was summoned by Hitler. He was promised German citizenship, a high post in the German military and the chance to play for the German national side. Dhyan Chand however declined the offer.
The Kumbh Mela is a spiritual event held once in 12 years in Northern India. In 2011, this religious gathering was so vast that it was visible in space through a satellite. It attracted over 70 million people.
The mighty Himalayas boast of 9 out of 10 world's highest peaks, the highest being Mt. Everest at 8,848 metres. While the entire Himalayas do not fall in India itself and a number of highest peaks are actually in Nepal, a large part of the Himalayas are in India.
Varanasi, also known as Benaras, 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.
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.
Situated on the banks of the river Ganges and represented in the Parliament by the country's PM Narendra Modi, the holy city of Banaras or Varanasi is at least 3000 years old. According to Hindu Mythology, Lord Shiva found this city 5000 years ago.
Awarded by the World Book of Records, the Golden Temple of Amritsar is the most visited place in the world with over one lakh devotees flocking at the shrine every single day.
It happens only in India! The Karni Mata Temple in Rajasthan is home to thousands of rats whom pilgrims consider to be their ancestors and worship, making it one of the strangest attractions of India and also one of the most unknown facts about India as well.
Living in his 100-room mansion in Baktawng village of Mizoram, Mr Ziona Chana is the head of the world's biggest family consisting of 181 members. He has 39 wives, 94 children, 14 daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren.
Attracting over 40,000 devotees each day due to a 300-yr old legend, this village in Maharashtra features establishments without any doors and locks. Its residents sleep soundly as they believe Lord Shani to be the guardian of the town. Hmm, I wonder how they keep the rain away...
A small village in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, Madhopatti has created history by producing the most number of IAS officers. With about 75 households, it has given 47 officers to Indian administration. Not just that, many from the same village have made their careers by joining prestigious organisations like ISRO, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and World Bank. Ask the villagers about their study schedules, maybe?
Imagine if your car when left in free gear, starts rolling up a hill against the gravitational pull. Freaky, right? This strange phenomenon is indeed a reality at a road stretch near Tulsi Shyam in Amreli district, Gujarat.
Nearly 80 percent of India's population are Hindu, 15 percent are Muslim and millions more are Sikh, Jain or Christian.
In India, there isn’t one national language- the constitution states there are 23 official languages. While Hindi is the most widely spoken and the language of the central government in India, no language is more official than the others. According to the constitution, each of the 22 local languages (plus English) are of equal importance.
The sari dates back to at least 3000 BCE. Sari wearers often choose the colour of their garment based on the occasion. Red is often worn by brides to symbolise fertility and prosperity.
India has an adult literacy rate of nearly 75 per cent. While the country has made significant improvements over the years, it has yet to meet the worldwide average literacy rate of 86.5 per cent.
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 four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.
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.
The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.
Alcohol consumption is banned in five Indian states; the drinking age varies from 18 to 30 in the others. If you're travelling to Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland or the Union Territory of Lakshadweep know that you won’t be able to buy alcohol. In addition, many states practice "dry days" on major religious holidays, when it's forbidden to sell alcohol.
Chicken tikka masala has become one of Britain’s national dishes- some say it has overtaken Fish and Chips. Although there are discrepancies about how this favoured curry came to be in the UK- whether it was created in the ’70s by a Bangladeshi chef in Glasgow or simply inspired by butter chicken- the tikka part of the dish originated some 5,000 years ago in India.
Khari Baoli in Delhi is Asia's largest wholesale spice market. It's been in operation since the 17th century and is named after the street on which it's situated.
Supporting more than 8% of the world's biodiversity, India's raw beauty can be seen from its coastline to its forests.
India's most privileged voter, Mahant Bharatdas, resides in a small hamlet called Banej in the middle of Gir Forest, Gujarat. The setting up of a particular polling booth for just one voter goes a long way in speaking decibels about the democratic spirit of the country.
Are you a vegetarian? You will fit right in here. With the majority of the population following Hinduism, around 29%-40% of the people are vegetarians.
India is a cricket-loving nation. It's only natural for it to also feature the highest cricket ground in the world recorded by the Guinness Book. It is situated at a level of 2,144 metres above sea level in Chail, Himachal Pradesh.
Second, only to the US, India has around 10% of its populace fluent in English. This statistic is expected to quadruple in the next decade.
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).
This is a Fact About India that many probably don't know. Each of the cables is capable of holding 900 tons of weight. The entire establishment's weight is equivalent to that of 50,000 African elephants.
Also, the first to have designed the world's first bongo guitar, this instrumental guitarist from India holds a world record for having travelled 257 countries in 6 years, six months and 22 days. Travel goals much?
Connecting more than 7,172 stations, the Indian Railways is the largest rail network in Asia carrying over 23 million passengers daily in 12,617 trains.
Locally was known as the mystery lake or the skeleton lake, Uttarakhand's Roopkund is infamous for hundreds of human skeletons found at the bottom of the lake and in the surrounding areas.
The world's highest motorable road greets you at Ladakh at an elevation of over 19,300 feet. Bike enthusiasts, take note because little facts about India could bring about a new adrenaline-filled adventure for you.
The Bengal tiger is India's national animal. It was adopted as India's symbolic animal in 1972. Corbett Tiger Reserve has the largest population of Bengal tigers for visitors hoping to catch a glimpse closely followed by Bandipur National Park in Karnataka.
India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1, 55,015 post offices. A single post office on average serves a population of 7,175 people. The floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was inaugurated in August 2011.
The 2011 Kumbh Mela was the largest gathering of people with over 75 million pilgrims. The gathering was so huge that the crowd was visible from space.
Mawsynram, a village on the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, receives the highest recorded average rainfall in the world. Cherrapunji, also a part of Meghalaya, holds the record for the most rainfall in the calendar year of 1861.
Bollywood is the world's largest producer of films, surpassing Nollywood (Nigerian Cinema) and even Hollywood. On average, Bollywood produces between 1,500-2,000 feature films a year.
Indian Railways is one of the top employers on the planet. With a staggering 1.4 million employees, India's state-owned railway network operates a huge, extensive network that extends across the country for hundreds of thousands of miles. Each day roughly 23 million passengers are transported on this extensive network.
India is the second-largest market of newspapers in the world- over 100,000 publications and 1300 million readers.
India's cuisine made of local spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits has influenced other cuisines from around the world- from Europe to the Caribbean.
Indian cuisine may be the oldest continuously prepared cuisine in known human history. Of course, what we know at home as "Indian food" varies widely from place to place in the country itself. From the Portuguese-inspired dishes of Goa to the tandoori ovens of Punjab, there's a wealth of different dishes to discover on a trip to the country.
Normally, Mumbai's foodservice network known as dabbawallahs delivers over 200,000 lunch boxes by bike and train from home to office daily. Unfortunately, the pandemic has drastically impacted their services- with many students and workers staying at home. In an intricate system, each person receives the correct tiffin box filled with hot food prepared by their family, and in the afternoon the empty boxes are picked up and returned home again. There's even a movie based on the phenomenon, 2013's The Lunchbox.
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 & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
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.
From the moment an Indian's born, he has two mothers. One, his birth mother and two, Gaumata. Cows are believed to be holy in Hinduism, and the Constitution has a set of rules in place that prevents the sale and slaughter of cows. Now isn't this a fantastic fact about India.
In 1963, ISRO launched its first-ever rocket from a church in Thumba, on the outskirts of modern-day Trivandrum. The said rocket was transported on a bicycle. The launching pad later came to be known as Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC).
This is a world-record-breaking Fact About India. Love milk and milk products? Here's an interesting fact for you. Reaching over 155.5 million tonnes in 2015, India is the largest milk-producing country in the world.
With 14.2% of the country's population being from the Muslim community, India happens to have the most number of mosques in the world. Some of the famous ones being Jama Masjid (New Delhi), Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad), Taj-Ul-Masjid (Bhopal), etc.
A 4-hour drive from Aurangabad and doubling as Maharashtra's best-kept secret, this lake was created by a plummeting meteor about 52,000 years ago. Travel enthusiasts must not miss this astronomical marvel and the temples around it.
With the anti-gravitational effect, this is the only magnetic hill in India. Landmarked by a yellow notice board that spells out instructions and asks you place your car on neutral gear right on the spot marked by white paint, this one will leave you in awe as your car will begin to move uphill on its own.
A plethora of objects and concepts originated in India starting from the game of snakes and ladders to chess a.k.a Chaturanga, buttons, shampooing, the number pi, diamond mining, zero, algebra, trigonometry along with the finding of the presence of water on the moon. Now isn't this an interesting fact about India?
Though the company was bought for just 10 lakh Rupees a long time ago and is now a multi-billion electrical goods company, it's an Indian company and is still named after its original owner, Haveli Ram Gupta.
Initially, diamonds were only found in the alluvial deposits in the Guntur and Krishna District of the Krishna River Delta. Until diamonds were found in Brazil during the 18th century, India led the world in diamond production.
A special polling station is set up for a lone voter in the middle of Gir Forest
Mahant Bharatdas Darshandas has been voting since 2004 and during every election since then, a special polling booth is set up exclusively for him as he is the only voter from Banej in Gir forest.
Earlier known as Moksha Patamu, the game was initially invented as a moral lesson about karma to be taught to children. It was later commercialized and has become one of the most popular board games in the world.
A woman may be forbidden from housework while any colour from the bridal mendhi (henna) is on her hands. Indian weddings are often colourful extended occasions that can last for anything from 3 days to a full week. The ceremonies start with the Ganesh pooja, Usually, a private ceremony that takes place with the couple and their close families to honour good fortune, followed by the mendhi ceremony the next day where henna patterns are painted on the bride and her female friends and family. That evening, there's often the sangeet- a musical night to welcome all the wedding guests, with the main ceremony and reception happening on the third day.
India now boasts 6,884 ultra-high-net-worth individuals with assets over US $30 million and claims to have 140 billionaires- ranking the country third in the world for billionaires, behind the USA and China.
It is claimed that the game of chess originated in India some 1,500 years ago. It is said to be based on the 7th-century war game called chaturanga that flourished in northwestern India at the time.
Emerging as one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, India is expected to be one of the top 3 economic powers in 10-15 years.
When Dr Rajendra Prasad was appointed the President of India, he only took 50% of his salary, claiming he did not require more than that. Towards the end of his 12-year tenure, he only took 25% of his salary. The salary of the President was Rs 10,000 back then.
The first rocket was so light and small that it was transported on a bicycle to the Thumba Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Elephants receive baths, massages and even food at the Punnathoor Cotta Elephant Yard Rejuvenation Centre in Kerala. Now that's a BIG step for the country.
India is second only to the USA when it comes to speaking English with around 125 million people speaking the language, which is only 10% of our population. This is expected to grow by quite a margin in the coming years.
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.
The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
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. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
India is the largest democracy in the world, the 7th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
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.
Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.
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.
Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.
Mawsynram is the Wettest Place on Earth with 11,873 Millimetres of Rain Annually
Holding a Guinness record for highest average annual rainfall, this town in Meghalaya gets about 11,873 millimetres of rain owing to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal. The winter months of this region are spent in preparation for the six-month-long monsoon ahead.
Travelling becomes convenient here since there are around 1.9 million miles of roads in the country, making it the second-largest network of roads in the world only second to the USA.
About 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, the arch-shaped Chenab bridge in Jammu and Kashmir is the world's tallest rail bridge. It stands at the height of 1,178 feet over the river Chenab.
Living true to its name, The Lifeline Express a.k.a the Jeevan Rekha Express is the world's first hospital train taking its services ranging from surgeries to cancer treatment to remote villages.
Dr Kalam had visited Switzerland on May 26th 2006, and that day is nationally known as Science Day in Switzerland.
With over 40 Indian attractions in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site list is one of India's two most beautiful cities - Ahmedabad and The Pink City, Jaipur! With Ahmedabad having traditional houses that are densely packed and an urban landscape layout that was frozen in time, this city is a much-deserved place on the list along with the Pink City's unique landscape of pink structures that go back to the city's old rule.
Indira Gandhi was India's first and only female prime minister. She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru – India's first prime minister– not the child of leader Mahatma Gandhi as her surname might suggest. She served from 1966-1977 and was re-elected in 1980 before being assassinated in 1984 while still in office.
Mother Teresa first donned her famous sari in 1948; it's now the uniform for nuns in her order, the Missionaries of Charity. Born in Macedonia in 1910, Mother Teresa – also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta – was a Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She devoted her life to helping the poor in the city of Calcutta, although her methods were considered controversial by some.
In terms of purchasing power (comparing economic productivity and standards of living), India is the world's third-largest economy.
The Indian rupee is a closed currency- there are harsh restrictions on bringing the currency in and out of the country. Visitors must arrive with cash and exchange their money at the airport or bank currency booth, or use an ATM to withdraw rupees once in the country.
Roughly 67 per cent of the world’s outsourcing is done in India. The Indian IT industry is valued at US 150- billion.
In rural Bihar, Nalanda, one of the world's most ancient universities is being rebuilt. It was first established as a centre of learning in the 5th century CE when a large Buddhist monastery stood on site. The new Nalanda International University is set to be completed in 2021/22- offering post-graduate courses on a wide variety of subjects.
Tea had been growing in India for centuries before the British began its commercial cultivation. The first recorded mention of tea in the country dates back to 750 BCE, and it was reportedly also consumed as a vegetable dish, fried in oil with garlic. When the British arrived in the 18th century, they began growing tea on a commercial scale to reduce their reliance on buying tea from China.
The state of Meghalaya, northeast India's "abode of clouds", is the wettest inhabited place on earth. The forested region has an average rainfall of 12,000 mm (470 inches) of rain every year. That's nearly 33mm of rain per day. Meghalaya's forests are home to a vast array of plant and animal species, including the Himalayan black bear, the pangolin (scaly anteater) and the zebra-striped hoopoe bird.
White tigers are only found among Indian tigers. White tigers a type of Bengal tiger created through a variant in pigmentation. They often grow into larger animals than their orange-coloured cousins.
When you're in the province of Rajasthan and want to spot these majestic Bengal tigers in the wild, head to Ranthambore National Park to check it off your bucket list.
It took a total of 2,57,00,000 man-hours for completion and also weighs as many as 50,000 African elephants. A true engineering and architectural marvel.
Shampoo was invented in India, not the commercial liquid ones but the method by use of herbs. The word 'shampoo' itself has been derived from the Sanskrit word champu, which means to massage.
India has won all 5 men's Kabaddi World Cups held till now and have been undefeated throughout these tournaments. The Indian women's team has also won all Kabaddi World Cups held to date.
In September 2009, India's ISRO Chandrayaan- 1 using its Moon Mineralogy Mapper detected water on the moon for the first time.
Science day in Switzerland is dedicated to Ex-Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam
The father of India's missile programme had visited Switzerland back in 2006. Upon his arrival, Switzerland declared May 26th as Science Day.
Be it because of religious reasons or personal choices or both, around 20-40% of Indians are vegetarians, making it the largest vegetarian-friendly country in the world.
India recently overtook the European Union with production reaching over 132.4m tonnes in 2014.
Freddie Mercury, the legendary singer of the rock band 'Queen' was born a Parsi with the name Farrokh Bulsara while the famous Oscar-winning Hollywood star Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked the first Indian in space, Rakesh Sharma, about how India looked from space. His response was our famous patriotic song, "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha."

Friends, hope you liked this post of our Incredible Facts About india. If you liked this post, then you must share it with your friends and Subscribe to us to get updates from our blog. Friends, If you liked our site FactsCrush.Com, then you should Bookmark it as well.