Some Important Facts

• An archaeological excavation carried out in the trenches at Dhaba in the upper Son river valley in has found evidence of human occupation in central India almost 80,000 years ago.

• Bharat ,India, the largest democracy, is the 7th largest Country in the world and one of the most ancient civilizations. The name ‘India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers.

• 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.

• Chess (Shatranj) was invented in India in 6th century CE. Yet earlier version was popular as Chaturanga. The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called ‘Mokshapat’.

• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus were originated in India. The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’ were developed in India in 100 B.C.

• Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur is the World’s first Granite Temple, The top (shikhara) of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This temple was built between 1004 AD and 1009 AD during the reign of King Rajaraja Chola of Chola Dynasty.

• The world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,000 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.

• 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’.

• Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds years before the astronomer Smart did. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

• The value of “pie” 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 with specific names as early as 5000 BCE , during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest named number is Terra: .

• 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 surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

• Usage of anesthesia 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.

• India exports software to 90 countries.

• 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.

• 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 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.

• 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, Himachal Pradesh.

• 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.

• The world’s highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh was built in 1893, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

• The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways.

• India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

• 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

• Mawsynram, a village on the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, receives the highest recorded average rainfall in the world.

• At an altitude of 2,444 meters, the Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, is the highest in the world. It was built in 1893

• 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 till date.|

• Water on the moon was discovered by India Chandrayaan- 1 using its Moon Mineralogy Mapper detected water on the moon for the first time in September 2009

• 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.

• The world’s largest producer of milk India recently overtook the European Union with production reaching over 132.4 m 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.

• Diamonds were first mined in India. Initially, diamonds were only found in the alluvial deposits in Guntur and Krishna District of the Krishna River Delta.

• A special polling station is set up for a lone voter in the middle of Gir Forest .