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Interesting Facts
About Bharat
"What makes a nation,
is the past, what justifies one nation against
others is the past", says
the noted historian Eric Hobsbawm.
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The official Sanskrit name for
India is Bharat. |
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INDIA has been called Bharat even
in Satya yuga ( Golden Age ) |
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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. |
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The Persian invaders converted it
into Hindu. The name `Hindustan’ combines Sindhu
and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
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The number system was invented
by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented
the digit zero. |
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Sanskrit is considered as the mother
of all higher languages. This is because it is
the most precise, and therefore suitable language
for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine,
July 1987 ). |
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Chess was invented in India. |
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Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus
are studies which originated in India. |
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The' place value system' and
the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC
in India. |
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The first six Mogul Emperor's of
India ruled in an unbroken succession from father
to son for two hundred years, from 1526 to 1707. |
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The World's First Granite Temple
is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil
Nadu. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne
' piece of granite. Also, this magnificient temple
was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD
and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja
Chola |
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India is.......the Largest
democracy in the world, the 6th largest country
in the world AND one of the most ancient and living
civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).
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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. Later through time,
the game underwent several modifications but the
meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to
heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births. |
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The world's highest cricket ground
is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh.
Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this
cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level. |
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India has the most post offices
in the world ! |
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The largest employer in the world
is the Indian railway system, employing over a
million people !. |
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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. |
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Ayurveda is the earliest school
of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine,
Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
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Although modern images &
descriptions of India often show poverty, India
was one of the richest countries till the time
of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher
Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was
looking for route to India when he discovered
America by mistake. |
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The art of Navigation & Navigating
was born in the river Sindh 6000 over years ago.
The very word 'Navigation' is derived from the
Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also
derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'. |
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Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated
the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds
of years before the astronomer Smart. His calculations
was - Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (
5th century ) 365.258756484 days. |
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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, which was long before the European
mathematicians. |
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Algebra, trigonometry and calculus
also orignated from 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 Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ). |
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Until 1896, India was the only source
for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological
Institute of America ) |
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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. |
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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 and also plastic surgery
and brain surgeries. |
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Usage of anesthesia was well known
in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge
of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,
physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is
also found in many ancient Indian texts. |
