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After being colonised for nearly 200 years, India gained independence from British rule on August 15, 1947. In the build-up to the 75th Independence Day, Indians have been carrying out celebrations in various little ways. While some have changed their display pictures on social media to the Indian flag, others have brought the tiranga (tricolor - Indian flag) home.
India takes pride in being the world’s largest democracy. It also takes pride in its rich history, culture, various traditions, festivals, languages and holiday destinations. Some of the world’s most popular scientists, artists and sports persons also belong to India. Ahead of the 75th Independence Day, look at 25 lesser-known facts about India.
Independence Day 2022: 25 lesser-known facts about India
As per the Times of India, Ladakh’s Rinchen Café is the world’s highest-altitude café. Located at an altitude of 18.360 ft. above sea level, the eatery is run and maintained by the Indian Army and serves mountain essentials like maggi, momos and tea.
In December 2021, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the world's highest motorable road in Ladakh. As per Hindustan Times, the Chisumle-Demchok road at Umling La Pass has been constructed at a height of over 19,000 ft. above sea level and spreads across 52 km. Interestingly, the height of this road is higher than the base camps of Mount Everest, the elevation of which is 17,598 ft.
Kashmir's famous Dal Lake has a floating post office, which is the only floating post office in the world. The post office is located amidst picturesque snow-clad mountains and is more than two centuries old after being established in the British era. To date, the post office delivers letters and couriers.
At 182 metres (597 ft.), the Statue of Unity is the world's tallest statue. Depicting Indian independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel, the statue was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in 2018. The Statue of Unity is 177 ft. taller than the previous record holder, the Spring Temple Buddha in China's Henan province.
Nestling at an altitude of 18,000 ft. above sea level, Komic in Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley is Asia’s highest village, as per the Times of India. Apart from its beautiful valleys and snow-capped mountains, Komic is also known for its 14th-century Lundup Tsemo Gompa Buddhist Monastery, which is the world’s highest motorable Buddhist monastery.
The 1.3-kilometre-long Chenab Bridge, which is built 359 metres above the bed of the Chenab River, is the highest railway bridge in the world. To give you a better idea of the bridge’s height, it is 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower in France. Constructed as a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link project, the Chenab Bridge aims to boost connectivity in Kashmir.
Kolukkumalai Tea Estate, which is 35 km outside of Munnar in Kerala, is the world’s highest tea estate, as per Times of India. Situated at a height of 7,130 ft. above sea level, the tea estate produces around 12 tons of tea per month on average and is spread across over more than 1000 acres of land.
Mawsynram in Meghalaya is the wettest place in the world with an annual rainfall of 11,802.4 millimetres. Very recently in June, Mawsynram saw 1003.6 mm of precipitation in 24 hours, the highest ever on a single day in June.
Snakes and ladders, a board game now famous worldwide, originated in ancient India by the name of Mokshapat or Moksha Patamu, per Times of India. The name of the game’s inventor is not known, but it is believed to have been played from the 2nd century BC onwards. Some reports suggest that the game was invented by Saint Gyandev, but there is no proof of the same.
Another game known to have originated in India is Chess. The game is derived from the Persian game shatranj, which was derived from the Indian game chaturanga, which can be traced back to the 6th century. Chaturanga was played on an 8x8 grid with pieces similar to those in today’s chess.
India was the only producer of diamonds till the 17th century, as per the Geological Survey of India’s retired director PK Sinha. As per India.com, diamonds from India were sold in Venice and other European trade centers in the 1400s.
The world’s oldest language, as per Times of India and other reports, is Sanskrit. India celebrates 12th August as Sanskrit Day to promote the preservation of the language. In some parts of the country, lectures about the origin and importance of Sanskrit are given on Sanskrit Divas.
Indus River, also known as Sindhu, is one of the longest rivers in the world and is known to be the inspiration behind India’s name. Síndhu, in Old Persian, translated to Hindu. Later in 1950, Bhārat was selected as an alternative name for India.
Hindi is largely mistaken as India’s national language. Hindi was declared as an official language in the constitution, but not a national language. The country has never had an official national language because India is home to thousands of languages, and nationalising just one of them would be unfair to the others.
According to the Census of India of 2001, India, at that time, had 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. As per the 2018 Census, more than 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother tongues, along with 121 major languages.
As per BBC and several other reports, Indian cinema is the world's largest film industry in terms of the number of films produced annually. In 2019, as many as 2,446 feature films were produced by the Indian cinema, which is composed of various language film industries like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and others.
Mumbai’s Bandra Worli Sea Link is one of the most remarkable sea links in the world. As per India.com, the Sea Link, which was constructed using 90,000 tons of cement, weighs as much as 56,000 African Elephants. Additionally, all the steel cables of the Bandra Worli Sea Link put together would be as long as the earth's circumference.
As per India Today, the components of the rocket for India's maiden rocket launch were carried on a bicycle to the launch site – Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram - in 1963. Dr Vikram Sarabhai had zeroed in on a church in Thiruvananthapuram as a potential launch site. The church was turned into a space centre of sorts and the rocket was assembled there. Today, the church is known as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
The first discovery of water on the surface of the moon was made by India's Chandrayaan-1 mission using NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument. The discovery was made in September 2009.
The Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS), a manufacturing unit located in Garag village near Dharwad City, is the only unit in India that has the license to manufacture and supply the Indian flag. Over 100 weavers are employed in making the flags. As per India Today, the KKGSS has to conform to the standards of manufacturing laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). All flags are sent to the BIS board for approval.
As per the Times of India, India produces nearly 60 percent of the world's vaccines, which makes it the world’s largest producer of vaccines. India is also home to the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, which is located in Pune.
As per several reports, India produces 70% of the world's spices. Some of the most widely produced spices by India are cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, pepper and coriander powder. Indians not only use spices as a food ingredient but also in several home remedies to treat cough, burns, skin irregularities and a lot more.
As per Outlook India, 70% of the world’s tiger population is in India. According to the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, the tiger population in the country grew from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 in 2019.
Cricket is a religion in India, it is not surprising that it houses the world’s largest cricket stadium. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is the world’s largest cricket stadium with a seating capacity of 1,32,000. Interestingly, the highest cricket stadium is also in India, as per India Times. The Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, is the world’s highest altitude cricket ground at a height of nearly 8,000 ft. above sea level. The ground was established in 1893 by Bhupinder Singh Maharaja of Patiala.
Besides being one of the most-watched sports tournaments in the world, the Indian Premier League is also the second-most lucrative league globally, as per Forbes. The media rights for the 2022-2027 cycle of the IPL were sold for a whopping Rs 48,000 crore and each game of the cash-rich tournament is worth $15.1 million (Rs 117 crore). This is only second to the National Football League (NFL), which earns $36 million (Rs 281 crore) per game.
