India Gyan by Discover91 vol 1 - Trivia on India

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There is a temple called "Karni Mata" in Jodhpur, where something peculiar happens - the temple is home to more than 20,000 rats and they are considered to be holy and are worshipped!




During the ten-day Dasara celebrations at Mysore, the Mysore Palace presents a spectacular sight at night, when it is illuminated with 97,000 light bulbs!!




Kailashnath temple at Ellora, carved out of a basalt cliff, was designed to recall Mount Kailash (abode of Lord Shiva). Notable for its vertical excavation (carvers started at the top of the cliff, and worked downwards), an estimated 200,000 tons of rocks was scooped out, and took 100 years to complete!




The Bailey Bridge is the highest bridge in the world - 30m long and situated at an altitude of 5,602m. Located in the Ladakh Valley, between the Dras and Suru rivers, it was built by the Indian Army in 1982.




In 1670, Baba Budan, a Muslim pilgrim, smuggled seven coffee beans from Mecca and planted them in Chikmagalur, thus introducing coffee to India. From this little nook in Karnataka, the coffee plant spread all across India. Today, Coorg (also in Karnataka), is the largest coffee-growing district in India.




Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, is a summit famous for spectacular sunrise – a remarkable play of colors on the (five) peaks of Kanchenjunga (third highest in the world). The sun's rays kiss the peaks to form a pretty pink, then slowly nuances of mauve, and then orange. When the sun pierces the horizon, they finally, burst aflame!




The Rameswaram temple, in Tamil Nadu, is reputed to have the longest temple corridor in the world. The outer set of corridors run a distance of about 4000ft, and has around 4000 pillars, 30ft in height.




Want to traverse through 9 Indian states in 70 hrs and 30min? Take the Himsagar Express - the longest running train on the Indian Railways, which covers 3,715 km halting at 69 stations (between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi). It runs weekly, starting every Friday at 14:05 hours from Kanyakumari, reaching Jammu on Mondays at 15:10 hours. It returns from Jammu on Mondays at 23:45 hours and reaches Kanyakumari on Thursdays at 22:45 hours.




It is symmetry that plays a significant role in determining the aesthetic appeal of the Taj Mahal at Agra. Shah Jahan's cenotaph, beside Mumtaz's, to the western side, is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, albeit it reflects the same elements!




India is the only country to have qualified for a FIFA World Cup Final, but has never played a single game. In 1950, India qualified from the Asia group and were one of the 16 teams to qualify for the finals held at Brazil. They however withdrew, because of a FIFA ruling that players were not allowed to play barefoot!




The Konark Sun Temple at Orissa, is world famous for its imposing dimensions and faultless proportions. The temple, designed in the form of Surya's (sun god) chariot, is drawn by seven horses, on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels. The wheels represent the hours of the day and their shadows tell time within an accuracy of 3 minutes!




PIN stands for Postal Index Number and the code is 6 digits long. There are nine PIN zones in India, including eight regional zones and one functional zone. The first digit of the PIN code indicates the region in which a given post office falls in. The second digit indicates the sub-region, and the third digit indicates the sorting district within the region. The final three digits are assigned to individual post offices.




Barren Island in Andaman is the only confirmed active volcano in India. Located 135 Km away from Port Blair, travellers are not allowed to set foot on the island, only to view it from the boat. The most recent eruption started in May 2008!




Majuli, in Assam is the one of the largest riverine islands in the world and the largest freshwater island in South Asia. Formed by mighty Brahmaputra river and tributaries, Majuli had a total area of 1,250 sq km, but now having lost significantly to erosion it has an area of only 650 sqkm.

For the record, Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada is the largest freshwater island in the world.




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, 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.




Legend has it that the Madhubani painting originated during the period of the Ramayana, when King Janak commissioned artists to paint during his daughter's marriage - Sita to Lord Ram. Traditionally done by the women of Madhu-bani village (Bihar), it was done on freshly plastered walls of huts. It is now also done on cloth, hand-made paper and canvas and make for great wall hangings and souvenirs.




The elephants for the world famous Mysore Dasara, were once trained at the Dubare Elephant Camp in Coorg. Today, it's one of the best places in India to interact with the Asian elephants. A great place for kids, as they are allowed to scrub their leathery hide, feed them fodder the size of cannon balls and hitch a ride on their back!




Auroville is a universal township in the making where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, politics and nationalities - 10 km away from Puducherry. Its Inauguration in 1968 was attended by representatives of 124 nations, including all the States of India. They brought some soil from their homeland, to be mixed in a lotus-shaped urn, now sited at the focal point of the Amphitheatre. Auroville Marathon, held in February every year attracts runners from all over the world.




Sandalwood is the state tree of Karnataka. The production of sandalwood oil in the state began during World War I when two oil-extraction plants were set up. The 80-year-old Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) is one of the largest producers of sandalwood soap in the world, with a factory at Mysore.




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