Marvelous Glories of India

Chess originated in ancient India and its current indian name is Shatranj.The game's present form emerged in Europe during the second half of the 15th century, an evolution of an older Indian game, Shatranj (cf. Chaturanga)

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level

Sanskrit is the mother of all the European Languages . Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magzine July 1987.

Dr. Ananda Chakrabaty  invented a microbe that eats oil spills. He has received a Padmashree in 2007 from Honorable Bharat Ratna Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam.

The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively

Goa is the state having the whole non-decomposing miraculous remains of St Francis Xavier at old Goa

The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 BC a beautiful lake aptly called 'Sudarshana' was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.

The creator of the Pentium Chip is an Indian born american citizen Vinod Dahm and is also known as the "Father of the Pentium Chip".

The founder and creator of the world's no. 1 web based email program i.e Hotmail is an  Indian American entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia.

IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.

The Kumbh Mela (or Grand Pitcher Festival) is a huge Hindu religious festival that takes place in India every 12 years. In 2001, 60 million people attended, breaking the record for the world’s biggest gathering. The mass of people was photographed from space by a satellite.c

When the first independent prime minister of India, pacifist Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), was featured in Vogue, his distinctive close fitting, single-breasted jacket briefly became an important fashion statement for the Mod movement in the West. Named the Nehru jacket, the prime minister’s coat was popularized by the Beatles and worn by such famous people as Johnny Carson (1925-2005) and Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990).

The first full-length feature film Raja Harishchanrda(1913)was filmed with the entire cast to be only of males since at that time the female crew was not available. The female roles were too played by the males. It was a four reel long movie and lasted for 40 minute.It ran for 23 days.

There is not even a single print available of India's first ever sound film Alam Ara. The last surviving prints of the original famous classics such as Raja Harishchandra(1913), Achhoot Kanya(1936) along with Alam Ara(1931) got destroyed due to a fire at the National Film Archive of India,Pune,in 2003.

September 21, 1995 the day when "milk miracle" took place. On this day the statues of Lord Ganesha at every temple of India as well as in the houses of every Indian craved a little milk. Not only Ganesha, but Siva, Parvati, Nandi and the Naga, Siva's snake, took milk. No science can prove why this event occurred.

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. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

For the first time ever, the Kutch region experienced Kashmir-type weather on November 17,1993.  Heavy snow-rains  were recorded in Patdi, Kharaghoda and the Great Rann Of Kutch.

The Vedas are the oldest written text on our planet today. They date back to the beginning of Indian civilization and are the earliest literary records of the human mind.

In 1953,Mrs Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman president of the UN General Assembly

Assam is the world's largest producer of the Golden colored Muga Silk.

India's Cherrapnuji is the wettest place on earth, receiving 425 inches of rain every year.Another surprising fact about Cherrapunji is that it rains mostly at night. Day-to-day activity is not really disrupted by the rain. It is one of the prettiest place to visit in India.