Decimal and Place Value System

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

Neem - An Auspicious Tree

Dating from the Vedic period, the Neem plant is considered to be very auspicious, not only for it's medicinal values, but also for it's use in religious rites. Neem is also revered for it's unmatched use as a biologically sound pesticide and an air purifier. The magical properties of the neem have now been revealed to the world.

The National Anthem of India

The Jana Gana Mana is the national Anthem of India, composed by Rabindranath Tagore. It was officially adopted by the constituent Assembly as the Indian national anthem on January 24, 1950.

Bhaskaracharya and Astronomy

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.

Number System - Invented by India

India invented the number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

Origin of Snakes & Ladders

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.

Classical Dance

Dance is perhaps the most ephemeral form of beauty. With eight recognized classical styles, Indian dance combines the pureness of nritta with the drama of abhinaya. From temple precincts to proscenium stage, its an art form that has kept pace with time without ever needing to dilute its original identity.

The Earliest School of Medicine

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

Anaesthesia

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.

Origin of Chess

Chess is believed to have originated in northwest India during the Gupta empire, where its early form in the 6th century was known as chaturaṅga (Sanskrit: four divisions [of the military] – infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively)

Cow

The cow is considered a sacred animal and is allowed to roam free in most cities and villages. They often wear a tilak as a symbol of good fortune.

Yoga

Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Yoga is a commonly known generic term for the physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India with a view to attain a state of permanent peace. Specifically, yoga is one of the six āstika ("orthodox") schools of Hindu philosophy. One of the most detailed and thorough expositions on the subject is the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, which defines yoga as "the stilling of the changing states of the mind.

World's First University

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.

Hanging Pillar of Lepakshi

Lepakshi is a small town, in Ananthpur district of Andhra Pradesh state. The most unusual thing related to Lepakshi is its floating pillar. A pillar which is believed to be attached with the ceiling but not to the floor. Though it is popular as floating pillar but it is a Hanging Pillar.There is enough space to easily pass a sheet of paper a towel underneath.

Magnetic Hill Ladakh

The uncommon phenomenon here is that the car moves itself when put in neutral gear. The car moves up a steep mountain road at a steady speed of 10km/hr or above depending on the type of vehicle. It is a hill near picturesque Leh. The hills have magnetic properties which attracts metallic objects, making vehicles move up at a speed of about 20 km per hour. The “magnetic hill” is located on the Leh-Kargil-Batalik national highway, about 50 km from Leh, at a height of 14,000 feet above sea level. Today the places has become a popular sight seeing place where tourists are amazed to see their car moving on its own.

Busiest Bridge in the World

Howrah Bridge of Kolkata is also known as Rabindra Setu. The Howrah Bridge of Kolkata is the busiest bridge in the world. The bridge caters to about 1,00,000 vehicles and uncountable pedestrians. The bridge is 450 meter long and it stands over Hooghly River without any pylon. The bridge is the best example of the 20th century engineering techniques. today it is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Kolkata.

The Royal Bengal Tiger

Whether one has sighted tigers in the mist of Nagarhole Park, the ancient ruins of Ranthambhore or just gawked at them in the city zoo, this beautiful beast holds an enduring fascination for the world. India is home to the largest number of these endangered cats. Stepped-up field efforts and public conservation discourses promise that the animal will survive the 21st century.

First Bathroom

The first bathrooms is said to have been built in India about 4500 years ago.

Crafts

The crafts map of India cuts a wide swath, from the bamboo craft of Assam to the blue pottery of Jaipur and the walnut woodwork of Kashmir to footwear from Kolhapur. Indian craftspeople, some six million of them, keep the knowledge alive: of locally-available material, a mastery over tools and an understanding of technique. However, only sustained investment from government and industry will ensure their survival.

Living Root Bridges of Cherrapunji

Have you ever wanted to go to forest or in some kind of magical places? Northeastern India is one such place where the majestic environment will give you a unique experience of its kind. Living tree root bridges are the specialty to the Cherrapunjee region, the wettest land on earth. The living bridges of Cherrapunji, India are made from the roots of the Indian Rubber Tree ‘Ficus elastica’ tree. It may sound magical or even exaggeration; the root bridges of Cherrapunji are really alive. Unlike any other part of the world these bridges are grown, not built.

Thalon Cave – Manipur

These caves are located in Tamenglong district in the North Eastern State of Manipur. The caves are one among various historic sites of Manipur. The caves also provide the first concrete evidence of Hoabinhian culture in India which is also found in other South East Asian countries. Thalon caves are located about 910 mtrs above sea level and its an unusual experience when you enter. The darkness and the frightening experience feels like you are entering into the unknown world.

Pi - Its Origin

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.

Origin of Martial Arts

Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is considered to be largest peaceful gathering in the world with over 100 million people visiting during the Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayag), Nashik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year. Ardh ("Half") Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad, every sixth year. The rivers at these four places are: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar, the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at Allahabad, the Godawari at Nashik, and the Shipra at Ujjain.

Birds

India is home to about 1200 species of birds.

Wildlife Sanctuaries

India has worked hard to preserve endangered species and their shrinking wild-life. There are more than 500 wildlife sanctuaries and 13 reserves.

Andaman

Far, far away from the mainland, the modern day Andamans seems to have acquired a culture of their own. Original settlers, and later immigrants from Punjab, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu have merged into a harmonious whole. It is only when you take a flight to any of the islands, away from Port Blair, that you realise how kind nature has been. If your plane is flying really high, you also see that all of the islands are just specks in that deep blue. And if the people do not take care of their natural protection coral reefs, mangroves the ocean could, quite easily, swamp them all.

Hide-and-Seek Beach of Orissa

It is truly a magical experience when something just disappears right in front of you. The thing which was right here and then just vanish after some time. This is what happens in Orissa. The hide and seek beach of Orissa that appears and disappears with every high and low tide. With every low tide, the sea water recedes to approximately 5 kms and hits the surf of the shore back during high tides is the captivating sight at the Chandipur Beach at Orissa. This hide and seek amuses various travelers.

Off-the-map getaways

It doesn't happen too often in fact it's quite rare but when it does it's jaw-droppingly, breathtakingly beautiful. It's that turn off a highway, a couple of kilometres down a dirt track, to a place of calm, serenity and solitude. It could be in the forests of the northeast, the salt pans of the west, the ghats down south or the mountains up north. Away from the madding crowd, from the dust and din of urban India, there's just you and nature. India is large enough to keep the idea of remote alive. And the mobile signal at bay.

Himalayas

The one reason why India is the way it is. The world's highest mountain range keeps the cold Arctic winds out and the monsoon winds in. Their snow-capped peaks and glaciers provide water to billions of people in the Indian subcontinent. They are home to some of the world's rarest flora and fauna. Oh, and the Yeti also lives here. As does Lord Shiva, he of the matted locks and the blue throat, who dances the dance of death and can destroy universes when he opens his third eye. Not surprisingly, hundreds of thousands of Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh pilgrims brave the mountains to visit holy sites. If you are averse to religion, there are tall peaks to climb, natural beauty to soak in and slopes to ski.

The King of all the Forts

Known as “The king of all the forts”, the Rajgad Fort in Maharashtra was special for its construction.

Floating Islands of Loktak

Loktak lake located in Moirang about 48 km. off Imphal in Manipur. It is known as the largest freshwater lake in North-Eastern India. The lake became popular because of the presence of floating islands known as Phumdis. These Phumdis are heterogeneous mass of soil, vegetation, and other organic matters.

Diamonds

Before 1986, India was the only place in the world where Diamonds could be found.

Wettest Place On Earth

India's Cherrapunji is the wettest places on earth, receiving 425 inches of rain every year.

Largest Road Network

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

Software Exporter

One of the largest exporters of software, India exports to over 60 countries right now.

India's National Tree

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.

World's Highest Cricket Ground

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

Auli

When the Kashmir troubles started, we needed another place to hold our winter sports meets (did you know we have had a National Winter Games since 1996?). They've been held on the slopes above Joshimath (on the pilgrim trail to Badrinath), at a facility run by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam. It has decent slopes, ski lifts, and it still offers what are probably the world's cheapest skiing lessons. The accommodations and food aren't spectacular, but if you want the high life, further up-slope and upscale is the Cliff Top Club resort.

Rajasthan Canal

The Rajasthan Canal (formally Indira Gandhi Nahar Project) passes through Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Sriganganagar districts. It has helped transform a desert into productive agricultural land. Aside from irrigation, it also supplies drinking water, not just to remote villages but also to some major cities like Jaisalmer, Barmer and Bikaner. The canal has truly changed the lives of people living around it.

Largest Religious Building

The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

Angkor Wat (Khmer) is the largest Hindu temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yasodharapura (Khmer, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaivism tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation – first Hindu, then Buddhist. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian Architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor, which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara . Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds", derived from the Pali word "vatta". Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok (Vara Vishnuloka in Sanskrit), after the posthumous title of its founder.

Indian Landmass

Less than 12% of the Indian landmass is covered in jungle. However, the country has a large variety of plant and animal life including 13.7% of all avian creatures.

Dal Lake

Tourists enjoying a traditional Shikara boat ride on Dal Lake in Srinagar, India.

Largest City of India

Mumbai is the largest city in India, with over 15 million people.

Architectural Heritage

Jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring, our architectural heritage Buddhist, Indian, Islamic, colonial, and Indo-Saracenic showcases a matrix of religions and cultures. They embody the vision of master architects in their grand scale with as much aplomb as the skill of the craftsmen in their miniature ornamentation. Seventeen of these monuments now wear World Heritage Site tags, but scores more may benefit from a nationwide campaign against vandalism and encroachment.

Highest Bridge 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.

Indian Railways

Indian Railways employs over 20,00000 staff, directly or indirectly. This is by far the largest by any organization in the world.

Over 16000 trains cross close to 10,000 stations everyday carrying over 20,00000 passengers. But the more surprising thing is the distance that these trains cover everyday, you can return from Moon twice. (Over 13,00000 kms per day)

Super Computer

India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously.

Bindi: The Great Indian Forehead Art

The bindi is arguably the most visually fascinating of all forms of body decoration. Hindus attach great importance to this ornamental mark on the forehead between the two eyebrows -- a spot considered a major nerve point in human body since ancient times. Also loosely known as 'tika', 'pottu', 'sindoor', 'tilak', 'tilakam', and 'kumkum', a bindi is usually a small or a big eye-catching round mark made on the forehead as adornment.

In southern India, girls choose to wear a bindi, while in other parts of India it is the prerogative of the married woman. A red dot on the forehead is an auspicious sign of marriage and guarantees the social status and sanctity of the institution of marriage. The Indian bride steps over the threshold of her husband's home, bedecked in glittering apparels and ornaments, dazzling the red bindi on her forehead that is believed to usher in prosperity, and grants her a place as the guardian of the family's welfare and progeny.

A Hot Spot!

The area between the eyebrows, the sixth chakra known as the 'agna' meaning 'command', is the seat of concealed wisdom. It is the centre point wherein all experience is gathered in total concentration. According to the tantric cult, when during meditation the latent energy ('kundalini') rises from the base of the spine towards the head, this 'agna' is the probable outlet for this potent energy. The red 'kumkum' between the eyebrows is said to retain energy in the human body and control the various levels of concentration. It is also the central point of the base of the creation itself — symbolizing auspiciousness and good fortune.

How to Apply

Traditional bindi is red or maroon in color. A pinch of vermilion powder applied skillfully with practiced fingertip make the perfect red dot. Women who are not nimble-fingered take great pains to get the perfect round. They use small circular discs or hollow pie coin as aid. First they apply a sticky wax paste on the empty space in the disc. This is then covered with kumkum or vermilion and then the disc is removed to get a perfect round bindi. Sandal, 'aguru', 'kasturi', 'kumkum' (made of red turmeric) and 'sindoor' (made of zinc oxide and dye) make this special red dot. Saffron ground together with 'kusumba' flower can also create the magic!

Coastline

The actual coastline on the main land is 3,400 miles, but if you include the islands that belong to India, the coastline is closer to 4,700 miles.