India: A Tapestry of Quick Facts and Fascinating Insights

India is a country filled with various cultures and traditions.

Here are some quick facts about the country that you may, or may not know about:

• The name India is derived from the River Indus, which was surrounded by valleys that housed early settlers.
• Aryan worshippers referred to the river as the Sindhu, which was later changed into Hindu by the Persian invaders. The name Hindustan comes from a combination of both these words, referring to the land of the Hindus.
• Chess was invented in India.
• Certain researchers say that calculus originated in India, and so did the 'place value system'.
• The Brihadeswara Temple in Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu is the world's first granite temple. Its main tower was carved out of a single piece of 80-tonne granite.
• India is the largest democracy in the world, in addition to being the seventh largest country in the world.
• The game of Snake & Ladders was created by 13th century poet Saint Gyandev. The message of the game was supposed to mean that good deeds take people to heaven and evil, to a cycle of re-births.
• India has the largest number of post offices in the world.
• Indian Railways is listed among the largest employers in the world, employing over 1.4 million people.
• India ranks as the third country with the highest number of billionaires, after the US, and China.
• The Nalanda university in Bihar is considered by historians to be the world's first residential university.
• The world's oldest surviving medical system Ayurveda was invented in India, about 3,000 years ago!
• It is believed that navigation was found in India more than 2,000 years ago.
• Ancient Indian surgeon Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery, as he and his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesarean deliveries, and even plastic surgeries and brain surgeries, over 2,600 years ago!
• The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25 per cent of the world's population.
• Historians say that modern day martial arts originated in India.
• Likewise, India is also the birthplace of yoga.

There you go, some quick facts about the wonderful India. What other facts that you know of that you can add on to the list?


Source: Vikaspedia.in
Photo source: Unsplash, onelifeadventures.com.au