Interesting facts about 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)


• 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.


• Chess was invented in India.


• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in
  India.


• 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 6th 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.


• 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.


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


• The largest employer in the world 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 & 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 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).


• Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world (Source :
  Gemological Institute of America).


• 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.


• 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 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.