[Curiosities] 10 Amazing facts about India that will blow your mind

[NoMercY :3]

The world's largest democracy, the seventh largest nation and home to 1.2 billion people. Appreciation for our beautiful country is often limited to these facts. But India is more than just complex numbers. We have put together a list of interesting facts about India that will fill you with wonder for India's unique diversity and pride for maintaining that subtle calm in chaos.

 

 

Here are some amazing facts about India that are neither exaggerated nor fabricated.

 

1. The plate tectonics, which created the Himalayas are still happening, making the mountains grow two inches taller every year.

 

The Himalayas as seen from space.

 

2. The Kumbh Mela is the world's largest peaceful gathering. Specifically the one in 2001, when on a single day 40 million people gathered on the bank of Ganges. This congregation was visible from space.

 

A drone shot of Kumbh mela

 

 

3. Built at 8,000 ft above sea-level, the cricket ground in Chail was constructed in 1893 by levelling a hill. Since then it is the world's highest cricket ground!

 

A satellite image of the Chail ground.

 

 

4. The highest post office in the world at 15,550 ft, is in the small village of Hikkim in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh.

Another one of the more interesting facts about India is about the highest post office. Operational since 1774, the Indian Postal Service has 154,866 post offices. 139,040 of them are in rural areas and only 15,826 are in urban areas. Including the extra departmental branch post offices, on an average there is a post office in India every 21 kilometres.

 

Post office in Hikkim

 

5. The first use of diamonds dates back to 6,000 years in India, when they were only found in the alluvial deposits in Guntur and Krishna district. They weren't found in Brazil till 1725. The world's greatest diamonds, Daria-i-Noor, Noor-ul-Ain, Koh-i-Noor, Hope Diamond, Princie Diamond and Regent Diamond were found in the Kollur Mine of Guntur. How many of them are in India now? Zero!

 

Koh-i-Noor

 

6. Mumbai is a city of seven islands! Mumbai as you see it today, only came into existence in 1784 – when it was coalesced into a single mass by the engineer Hornby Vellard. Before that, it was an archipelago of seven islands – Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli, Old Woman's Island (also known as Little Colaba) and Bombay Island.

 

 

 

7. Varanasi is the oldest continuously inhabited city in central Asia. The earliest known settlements date back to 1900 BCE.

 

A still photograph from a festival in Varanasi

 

 

8. The number of people travelling in the Indian Railways everyday is equal to the po[CENSORED]tion of Australia (more than 23 million).

 

Commuters on a local train

 

 

9.The Edicts of Ashoka (200 BCE) are known to be the very first declaration of Human Rights. His emissaries traveled as far as the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean and the empires of North Africa, to spread the message of Buddhism throughout the word.

 

The Buddhist stupas built by Ashoka, Sanchi: Stupa, Antiquity, Enlightenment.

 

 

10. The Howrah Bridge does not have any nuts and bolts. The entire structure is riveted together consuming 26,500 tons of steel and a high tensile alloy, Tiscrom, supplied by Tata Steel in 1942.

The Howrah bridge