FACTS ABOUT INDIA 1

- India is the world's largest democracy, with 1.2 billion people.

- 100 million people come to India's Kumbh Mela Festival, the world's biggest gathering of humans.

- India's Hindu calendar has 6 seasons: spring, summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and prevernal.

- It's illegal for foreigners to take Indian currency (rupees) out of India.

- Breathing the air in Bombay, India is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes a day.

- The world's biggest family lives together in India: a man with 39 wives and 94 children.

- Police officers in one state in India are given a slight pay upgrade for having a moustache.

- India has the world's lowest meat consumption per person.

- India has more mobile phones than toilets.

- Children's Day is celebrated in India on November 14th, 9 months after Valentine's Day.

- India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1, 55,015 post offices. A single post office on an average serves a population of 7,175 people. The floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was inaugurated in August 2011.

- Mawsynram, a village on the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, receives the highest recorded average rainfall in the world. Cherrapunji, also a part of Meghalaya, holds the record for the most rainfall in the calendar year of 1861.

- It took a total of 2,57,00,000 man hours for completion of Bandra-Worli sea link and also weights as much as 50,000 African elephants. A true engineering and architectural marvel.

- At an altitude of 2,444 meters, the Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, is the highest in the world. It was built in 1893 and is a part of the Chail Military School.

- Shampoo was invented in India, not the commercial liquid ones but the method by use of herbs. The word 'shampoo' itself has been derived from the Sanskrit word champu, which means to massage.

- India has won all 5 men's Kabaddi World Cups held till now and have been undefeated throughout these tournaments. The Indian women's team has also won all Kabaddi World Cups held till date.

- In September 2009, India's ISRO Chandrayaan- 1 using its Moon Mineralogy Mapper detected water on the moon for the first time.

- The father of India's missile programme had visited Switzerland back in 2006. Upon his arrival, Switzerland declared May 26th as Science Day

- The first rocket was so light and small that it was transported on a bicycle to the Thumba Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

- Elephants receive baths, massages and even food at the Punnathoor Cotta Elephant Yard Rejuvenation Centre in Kerala. Now that's a BIG step for the country. 

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