12 Surprising Facts You May Not Know About India

Among many facts about India, this one is the biggest source of amazement. The first ever shampoo was used by locals in India. Dried Indian gooseberry mixed with many other herbs was used to wash hair, a recipe that is still used in the country today. The word ‘shampoo’ is derived from the Hindi word, champo.

It is believed that the first ever diamond recognized and mined was found in India among huge alluvial deposits of the stone on the bank of rivers Krishna and Godavari. Some of the world’s biggest diamonds, today, were also found in India.

Another shocking fact about India is that the Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh is the highest cricket ground in the world. It is part of the famous Chail Military School built in the 19th century and sits at an altitude of 2,444 metres.

This fact is recalled with a sense of pride by Indians. For the first time ever, India discovered that there is water on the moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1 detected water using a Moon Mineralogy Mapper.

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

Shakuntala Devi from Bengaluru city in India earned a mention in the 1982 Guinness Book of World Records when she multiplied two, thirteen digit numbers and gave the correct answer in 28 seconds. The genius mental calculator was aptly nicknamed, ‘the human calculator’.

Legendary singer, Freddie Mercury of the British band Queen was Parsi born by the name Farrokh Bulsara. Acclaimed actor, Sir Ben Kingsley was born to Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji and Anna Lyna Mary and his birth name is Krishna Pandit Bhanji.

During elections, India sets up a voting booth in the Gir Forest for only one person. Mr. Mahant Bharatdas Darshandas has been voting since 2004 in the polling booth specially made for him every year.

India has been producing sugar since ancient times. People in the Indian subcontinent were the first to discover the use of sugarcane and its properties in medicine and food.

India has the largest number of post offices in the world. Like that didn’t make India exclusive enough, there is a floating post office in a boat in Kashmir, India. The post office is on the famous and picturesque Dal Lake, a mainstay of Kashmir tourism, and the floating post office makes it even more unique.

Shiv Nagar village in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh was renamed ‘Snapdeal.com Nagar’ after snapdeal.com, the e-commerce company, installed 15 hand-pumps in the village so that the villagers wouldn’t have to walk for miles to fetch water. The village has the Snapdeal logo branded everywhere.

In the state of Meghalaya, there is a village called Mawsynram that received 26,000 millimetres of rainfall in 1985, earning the title of the ‘wettest place on earth’. Located in the beautiful Khasi Hills in northeast India, this little village doesn’t offer much to travellers except its rain.