About Our Country – India By Gnaneshwar Bukka Imran Pathan

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second most populous country, and the largest democracy in the world.

India has a coastline of over seven thousand kilometers and borders Afghanistan and Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. India is adjacent to the Indian Ocean island nations of Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia and Thailand.

Facts About India 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. The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name `Hindustan’ combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus. The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero. 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.

Chess was invented in India. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India. The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India. The first six Mogul Emperor's of India ruled in an unbroken succession from father to son for two hundred years, from 1526 to 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 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).

The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people !. 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. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. 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.

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'. 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 ) days. 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.

Indian Film Industry – Bollywood What is Bollywood? Bollywood is a nickname referring to the Indian film industry. The 'B' comes from Bombay (now 'Mumbai') - a large city in India, and a base for the film industry. Bollywood is the largest film industry in the world, making more than 1000 films each year - twice as many as Hollywood. About 14 million Indian people go to the cinema everyday, and 4 billion cinema tickets are sold each year for Bollywood films (compared to 3 billion for Hollywood.)

What makes Bollywood films unusual? Bollywood films are often long - three hours, with an intermission. Bollywood films are full of musical dance sequences, colorful costumes and creative choreography. Romance and love are important elements in Bollywood cinema. However, kissing is almost never shown on screen.

Sights of India

Mount Kailas, Himalayas “abode of snow” – in Sanskrit

The Beauty of Kashmir

Varanasi, Ganges River

Western Thar Desert, Rajasthan

“Gods Own Country”, Kerala

The Gods of India

1 Billion people, 1 Billion Gods Rama Ganesha Saraswati Lakshmi Nanak BuddhaChristDevi Krishna Murugan SARASWATI

Destroyer Shiva Preserver Vishnu Creator Brahman The Trinity

The Ancient Indian Epics Ramayana Mahabharata Longest Epic in world literature with 100,000 two-line stanzas, first composed about 5000 years ago. The first Indian epic consisting of 24,000 verses divided into 7 books, composed about 6500 years ago.

“After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare.” "Your very nature will drive you to fight, the only choice is what to fight against.” “On action alone be your interest, Never on its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, Nor be thy attachment to inaction. “ “This is how actions were done by the ancient seekers of freedom; follow their example: act, surrendering the fruits of action.” “For certain is death for the born, and certain is birth for the dead; Therefore over the inevitable you should not grieve. “ “For the uncontrolled there is no wisdom. For the uncontrolled there is no concentration, and for him without concentration, there is no peace. And for the unpeaceful how can there ever be happiness? “ “When a man dwells on the objects of sense, he creates an attraction for them; attraction develops into desire, and desire breeds anger.“ The words of Lord Krsna crystallized in the Bhagavad Gita. Lord Krsna counsels Prince Arjuna during the Great Mahabharata War, in Kurukshetra, India, circa 3100 B.C.,

The 4 kinetic ideas behind Hindu Vedic Spirituality Karma Maya Nirvana Yoga The law of universal causality, which connects man with the cosmos and condemns him to transmigrate. The world is not simply what it seems to the human senses. Absolute reality, situated somewhere beyond the cosmic illusion woven by Maya and beyond human experience as conditioned by Karma. The state of absolute blessedness, characterized by release from the cycle of reincarnations; freedom from the pain and care of the external world; bliss. Implies integration; bringing all the faculties of the psyche under the control of the self

is the Sanskrit word for; Amen (Christian) Amin (Muslim) Aum (Hindu) Hūm (Bhuddist) “AUM” or “OM” The first sound of the Almighty – Infinite Reality - Oneness with the supreme

Goldman Sachs Report of 1 October, 2003 – "Dreaming with BRICs: The path to 2050" India's GDP will reach $ 1 trillion by 2011, $ 2 trillion by 2020, $ 3 trillion by 2025, $ 6 trillion by 2032, $ 10 trillion by 2038, and $ 27 trillion by 2050, becoming the 3 rd largest economy after USA and China. In terms of GDP, India will overtake Italy by the year 2016, France by 2019, UK by 2022, Germany by 2023, and Japan by 2032.

Progress during the last 20 years Poverty (incidence) 1980s1990s %36%26% Education (literacy rate) 1980s1990s %52%65% Health (life expectancy) 1980s1990s Source: World Bank (2003)

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