India is one of the most fascinating countries in the world. From featuring the lowest divorce rates to being the world’s largest democracy, the essence of this nation is steeped in history and woven into the multicultural fabric of what makes it a great nation of firsts and unique facts. Given the fact that its population is out of control and it really has to work on pollution, it isn’t easy managing and governing 1.32 billion people especially when every state of India is culturally diverse with a separate language and tradition. But that’s what makes India unique in the fact of it being 29 different culturally diverse states making up one big nation. Here are 20 amazing facts about India.
According to the Hindu scriptures and the Hindu calendar, there are six seasons in India known as Vasant Ritu (spring), Grishma Ritu (summer), Varsha Ritu (monsoon), Sharad Ritu (Autumn), Hemant Ritu (pre-winter) and Shita Ritu ( Winter). The king of seasons is spring when millions of farmers around India harvest crops. It is the season of fertility and represented by a major festival called of Holi or Doljatra which is the festival of colors.
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No, Yes, Ok, and thank you. Why unnecessary have four separate gestures. Indians have a four in one gesture to express all of the four opinions. Indians just bob their heads from side to side.
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60% of Indians are vegetarians where vegetarianism, a traditional feature of Hinduism in India. Incidentally, In spite of it being an exporter of meat, India consumes the lowest percentage of meat in the world. I’d say that’s quite smart.
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Surprise Surprise??? In fact, according to the Indian government, there are two official languages in India. Hindi and English. Of course, the government accepts 17 other languages and you can find 1650 dialects spoken across India.
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Air pollution may not be a grave problem throughout India as it would be a stupid observation to make simply because in villages and hilly areas, you could hardly hope to have population but pollution in certain Indian cities is a matter of concern and that is no denying the fact. Delhi especially was measured with a crazy 700 mpcm of harmful PM 2.5 in the air which is 30 times above the limits set by WHO. London is just 69. Surprisingly, Delhi is yet to feature on top of the most polluted cities in the world with Igdir in Turkey measuring 999 and Mexico 814. However, this isn’t a justification of sorts and the Indian Government needs to work on pollution for the sake of our health.
On a positive note, in the last 30 years or so, India has done much to reduce vehicle pollution where 40 years ago black smoke billowed out of buses and cars but today that is a rare sight on roads.
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India is home to almost all of the word’ major religions. To give a brief example, in a census in 2011. 79.8 % of the population are Hindu while 14.2% belong to Islam. The remaining 6% account for followers of Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism and even Judaism.
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If the mention of Judaism surprised you, then yes India is home to a unique Jewish community found in pockets of the country. In fact, there is a community of Jews living in the Northeast states of Manipur and Mizoram called the Beni Menashe (sons of menashe) who claim direct descent to one of the lost tribes of Israel expelled by the Assyrians 2700 years ago. In 2013, Israel allowed the mass immigration of the tribe to join separated families already living in Israel from years ago. (BTW, this was for information only and not promotional)
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Kalaripayattu is a south Indian martial arts form that traces its roots back to 300 CE. Learning it for self-defense. It was then developed further in monasteries like the Shaolin temple and various dynasties after which it became to be known as Gongfu. According to Shaolin temple, the man responsible for taking the martial art form to China was the Indian Buddhist priest Bodhidharma who traveled to China.
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Yes, Chess originated in India around the 5th to 7th century BC and was known as Chaturanga or four divisions of an army namely chariots, Elephants, Cavalry and Infantry.
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Yes, the world’s biggest family lives in the Northeastern state of Mizoram in a village called Baktwang. Ziona Chana has 39 wives, 94 kids and 14 daughters in law and 33 grandchildren.
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Get this!! Children’s day in India is celebrated on November 14, exactly 9 months after Valentines Day on February 14th. And! In case you didn’t know, in most major cities, the effects of globalization, commercialization has made people more aware of western concepts where Valentine’s Day is also celebrated in India.
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Among amazing facts about India, The Indian psyche is most probably woven into the size of a man’s moustache. In ancient times, it was considered a macho and manly feature to sport a moustache like a Harley’s handlebars. Policemen in India are paid for their moustaches. This practice if followed in the state of Madhya Pradesh where it is believed that with handlebar moustaches, they look more imposing.
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Foreigners visiting India are not allowed to take the Indian currency (Rupee) along with them when they leave India.
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While in the states of West Bengal and Malegaon in Maharashtra, Cattle owners have to make ID card tags for their cows, today the Indian government is contemplating issuing a new unique identification card similar to the Aadhar( biometric ID) card (made mandatory for every citizen) for the 40 million cows.
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70% of the world’s spices come from India.
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Currently, India’s population is approaching the 1.5 billion mark which is higher than any other country in the entire Western hemisphere. As per a UN report, it is all set to outrun China by 2022.
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India has one of the lowest divorce rates in the world where every1 marriage out of 100 ends in divorce.
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India has a vigilante group called “Love Commandos.” The group supports and shields anyone wanting to marry out of love irrespective of religion or different castes. It also supports couples from castes that are oppressed.
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Whether the practice is continuing today or not is yet to be determined but in 2004, it created quite a stir when several credible news sources like the BBC in India reported how farmers in districts of Durg, Rajnandgaon and Dhamtari in Chhattisgarh were using Coca-cola and Pepsi as cheap alternatives to pesticides for crops.
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Indian Housewives own 11% of the world’s gold which is more than the combined stocks of the USA, Germany, Switzerland and the International Monetary Fund put together.
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An amazing fact about India. India controls an island called Sentinel Island located in the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the bay f Bengal. The tribal’s are deadly and have rejected modern civilization. They are extremely hostile and are known for throwing spear and shooting arrows at helicopters flying by for research. These are the last people in the world untouched by modern civilization.
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