India is one of the leading countries in the world today. We would like to think we know all about it, but then we would be wrong. There are secrets and surprising facts about India that very few people have heard about. About 100 million years ago, India was an island and not a peninsula like it looks today.
About 50 million years ago, it collided with the Asian continent and thus were born the great Himalayas. With a population of more than a billion people from multiple genres of ethics, languages and religions, India is a mini world in itself.
India is the second most populated country just behind China, but it has in store some mind-blowing facts and achievements that are incomparable.
India has a floating post office
India, apart from being the largest postal service provider with close to 1, 55,015 post offices, also has a floating post office that was found in Dal Lake in Srinagar. Upon being inaugurated in August 2011, this post office has turned into a major tourist attraction.
The wettest inhabited place in the world
There is a village on the Khasi Hills in Meghalaya that receives the highest recorded average rainfall in the world. This area is called Mawsynram. Cherrapunji, also a part of Meghalaya, holds the world record for the most rainfall in the calendar year ever, achieved in the year 1861.
The highest cricket ground in the world is located in the hills of India
Cricket is the most popular sport in India. And located at an altitude of 2,444 meters, the Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, is the highest stadium in the world. It was built in the year 1893 and is a part of the property of Chail Military School.
The Lonar Lake in Maharashtra
This lake, also known as Lonar Crater, was formed due to a meteor that hit the area a long time ago. There are two different, distinct water regions in the lake that do not mix. This is because one region has neutral, while the other region is alkaline. Both regions have given rise to different species of flora and fauna.
There is a polling booth set up every election for a single voter.
The title of India's most privileged voter goes to, Mahant Bharatdas. He resides in a small hamlet called Banej in the middle of Gir Forest in Gujarat. The Election Commission of India sets up a special pooling booth for this single voter every time without any hesitation.
India has the largest no. of vegetarians in the world
The majority of the population in India are followers of Hinduism, and thus there are around 29%-40% of the people that are vegetarians due to both religious and health reasons.
India is one of the top English speaking countries in the world
India has around 10% of its 1.2 billion people speak and converse fluently in English. This statistic is also increasing day by day.
India is the leading milk producer in the whole world
With the production of over 155.5 million tonnes of milk in 2015, India is the largest milk producing country in the world. After the success of the milk revolution and operation flood, India leads the chart of milk producing countries.
Water on the moon was discovered by India’s Chandrayaan
In September of 2009, India's ISRO launched the Chandrayaan- 1 which was the first to detect the presence of water on the moon for the first time ever.
The National Kabaddi team of India has won all World Cups held so far
The Indian men's team has won all 5 men's Kabaddi World Cups held till now and has been undefeated throughout these tournaments. The Indian women's team also had the title of an unbeaten streak too.
The presence of a human calculator
Shakuntala Devi was called as the human calculator due to her unique maths capability. This title was conferred to her after she demonstrated the calculation of two 13 digit numbers: 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779 picked at random. She answered correctly within 28 seconds and shocked the whole world.
Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize
Rabindranath Tagore gets the credit for not only writing the Indian national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, but also the Bangladeshi national anthem, Amar Sonar Bangla. He was also the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize. He was offered the knighthood by the British but refused to accept in protest of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The tallest rail bridge is in India
Almost 35 meters taller than the famous Eiffel Tower, the arch-shaped Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir is the world's tallest rail bridge. It stands at a height of 1,178 feet over the river and has earned the title of being the world’s tallest bridge.
The most visited place in the world is in India
The Golden Temple of Amritsar in Punjab holds the title for being the most visited place in the world. The shrine sees a footfall of over one lakh devotees every single day.
The highest motorable road in the world is in India
Located in Ladakh, this road is built and maintained by BRO. It is built at an elevation of over 19,300 feet. Apart from being the highest motorable road, this place has turned into an exciting spot for all the adventurous people out there.
As the saying goes- A tour of India can be considered to be a tour of the world itself. With its diverse cultures and secrets, India is the one-stop destination to explore all the mysteries available out there.
- Sonal Bera
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