INDIA

World’s Largest Democracy

 Name came from the Indus River, site of the
world’s oldest civilizations

 Huge triangular peninsula of South Asia,

surrounded by China, the Himalayan kingdoms,
Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
 The world’s seventh large
st country in area, India
occupies more than 3
million sq km (1 million sq
mi), encompassing a
varied landscape rich in
natural resources

 Location: Southern Asia,

bordering the Arabian Sea
and the Bay of Bengal,
between Burma and
Pakistan
3 DISTINCT LANDSCAPES
1. Hindustan in the north lies on the slope of
Himalayas
2. The Deccan Plateau in the center is bounded by
the Gnats (mountains) on the east and west
3. The Tamil south includes coastal plains on both
sides
 Area: 3,287,263 sq km
 Capital-New Delhi

 Largest city-Mumbai

Demonym-Indian
 Government-Federal constitutional
republicparliamentary democracy
 President-Pratibha Patil
 Prime Minister-Manmohan Singh (INC)
 Chief Justice-S. H. Kapadia

 Legislature-Sansad
 Upper House-Rajya Sabha
 Lower House-Lok Sabha
 Independence from the United Kingdom 
 Declared -15 August 1947 
 Republic26 January 1950 
 Population: 1,173,108,018 (July 2010 est.)
 Official language(s)-Hindi, English
 Languages - There are 24 languages spoken in India
by at least 1 million people each. Numerous other
languages and dialects are also spoken. Hindi is the
official national language and is the primary
language for 40 percent of the population. Other
official languages include Assamese, Bangla, Bodo,
Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani,
Maithali, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali,
Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil,
Telugu, and Urdu. Hindustani is a popular variant
of Hindi/Urdu and is spoken widely throughout
northern India. English has associate status as the
official working language and is important for
national, political, and commercial matters.
 2nd largest textile producer
 Largest exporter of jewelry
 maintains the third-largest military force in
the world, which consists of the Indian Army,
Navy, Air Force
 world's second largest labour force, with
516.3 million people.
 The Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car.
India's annual car exports have surged
fivefold in the past five years.
 Seven of the world's top 15 technology
outsourcing companies are based in India and
the country is viewed as the second most
favourable outsourcing destination after the
United State
 …..Despite India's impressive economic growth
over recent decades,
 it still contains the largest
 concentration of poor people
 in the world
 Jawaharlal Nehru, the first
Prime Minister of India,
initiated reforms to promote
higher education, science,
technology in India. The first
Indian Institute of Technology
was started in August 1951 at
Kharagpur to promote
technical education.
 Agriculture - products: rice, wheat, oilseed,
cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, lentils, onions,
potatoes; dairy products, sheep, goats,
poultry; fish
 Industries: textiles, chemicals, food
processing, steel, transportation equipment,
cement, mining, petroleum, machinery,
software, pharmaceuticals
 Imports - commodities: crude oil, precious
stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel,
chemicals
EARLY HISTORY

 About 300 BC, began in Indus Valley up north

 ruins of ancient cities are found in Mohendro-
Daro and Harrapa (now Pakistan)
 Early Dravidians (dark-skinned people) built
cities, temples, and art works as old as those
of China, Egypt and Mesopotamia
 Dravidians today are members of the lower
castle
 200 BC- Aryans (fair-skinned) invaded Indus
Valley.
 They spoke Sanskrit and founded small kingdoms in
the fertile plains of North India
 Contribution: Vedic literature, Sanskrit
epics, Hinduism, and the castle system
VEDIC LITERATURE
 Reflects life and culture of ancient Aryans
 Consist of four literary works
 Vedas- composed of hymns, prayers, rituals, magic,
and poetry
 Written about 1000 BC and were earliest sacred

books of Hinduism
 Brahmanas- pose texts containing observations on
religious sites.
 Include legends of exploits of ancient kings and

heroes
Arankayas- books of instructions for the
hermits in the forests
 Contain elaborate rules for

performance of religious ceremonies

Upanishads- books of instructions given

by father to his son or the teacher to his
student
SANSKRIT EPICS
2 great Sanskrit epics of ancient India

1. Mahabharata- written by Byasa about 500

BC
 Longest epic poem in the world
 tells the tale of 5 brothers’ struggle to recover
the throne from their wicked cousins
 Krishna (Hindu god)- helps them win the bloody
battle
 contains lofty philosophical poem, Bhagavad Gita
(god’s song between Krishna and Arjuna)
2. Ramayana- shorter and written by Valmiki
about 500 BC
 tellsstory of Prince Rama, the seventh
reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu
 Siva (his beautiful wife) was abducted by Ravana
(demon god of Ceylon)
 After bloody battles, he killed his enemy,
rescued his wife, and returned to India with his
victorious army of monkeys
HINDUISM

 India’s main religion today and

the source of modern cults
 World’s oldest organized
religion
 began as nature worship
(animism), they prayed for
forces of nature for favors
 300 million gods and goddesses
representing natural forces
and personified gods to suit
human needs
 Brahma- chief hindu god, creator and world soul
 Lesser god are Vishnu (preserver) and Shiva
(destroyer)
 believe in karma( destiny) and reincarnation ( a
good soul is reborn after death into higher status: a
bad soul into a lower status or animal)
 Gurus- spiritual teachers of an informal
organization that spread the beliefs and practices
of Hinduism
CASTE SYSTEM
- has become part of Indian life due to the religious
approval given to it by Hinduism.
- It divides people into tigid castes or classes:
(1) Brahmans, priests and scholars;
(2) Kshatriyas, rulers of warriors;
(3) Vaishyas farmers, artist and merchants;
(4) Sudras, workers and slaves; and
(5) Untouchables, persons who do not belong to
any class and do the dirtiest work like
cleaning toilets and collection garbage.
 began as a race prejudice of the fair. Aryans
against the dark Dravidians. To dominate
them further, the Aryan masters made class
divisions a holy law. Thus, untouchables may
not enter temples or use public baths and
wells they would desecrate or pollute other
castes and offend the god’s.
BUDDHISM
 6th century BC, a new religion started in the Indian
subcontinent which rejected Hinduism.
 - named after its founder, Gautama Buddha, Son of a rich
Rajah in Nepal, he was born as prince Siddharta Gautama
about 566 B.C. 566, at 16, he married his beautiful cousin
and has son, although he lived in a palace amid luxurious
delights prince Siddharta was unhappy because of the
poverty and ignorance of the masses. At 29, he left his
family and palace and wandered as a poor beggar in search
of the truth. One day, while meditating under the Bo tree,
he achieved truth and salvation and because Buddha ( the
enlightened one.) He died and was buried in Nepal around
486 B.C. like confusions, Buddha did not claim to found a
new religion. His aim was to reform Hinduism, with its
cruel division into castes.
GAUTAMA BUDDHA
 BUDDHA TAUGHT ALL THE FOUR“
NOBLE TRUTHS”, AS FOLLOWS;

(1) Man’s suffering is caused by his selfish

desires;

(2) Man’s life is filled with suffering;

(3) Man can end his suffering by conquering his

selfish desires; and

(4) after ridding himself of suffering, man

attains the state of nirvana( Perfect
Happiness).
To attain nirvana, a person must follow the
“Eight-Fold Path” consisting of

( 1) Right Belief, (5) Right Livelihood

(2) Right Aspiration, (6) Right Effort,

(3) Right Speech, (7) Right Remembrance

(4) Right Conduct, (8) Right Meditation.

Buddhism split into 2 branches:

1. Mahayana- (greater vehicle)- involves priests

-first century AD, reached Tibet, China, Korea,
Japan, Southeast Asia

2. Hanayana (lesser vehicle) – personal, direct

worship
-remained in Nepal and Ceylon
 Persian and Greek invasion of India
 Atthe end of 6th century- Darius I lead Persian
to conquer Aryan kingdom and introduced
 Aramic writing
 Purdah- the practices of secluding women at home
and women wearing veil in public
 Zoroastianism- religion of the Parsees in Bombay today
 326BC- Alexander the Great of Macedonia-
paved the way for Indian unity and India was
open to European trade
 Maurya Empire (322-232 BC)
 First Hindu empire
 founded by Chandragupta Maurya who rallied
the Indians and drove away the Greeks after
Alexander died
 covered whole Indian peninsula, except South
India
 Asoka- greatest Maurya emperor, made
Buddhism a state religion and sent missionaries
to other Asian country. Built inns, orphanage,
and hospitals. But his reign was followed by 5
centuries of foreign invasions and internal unity.
 Gupta Empire,
“India’s Golden Age”
(320-647 AD)

 India glowed in magnificent cultural

achievements
 Founded by Chandragupta I, raja of Magadha
around 320 AD.
 Kalidasa- India’s greatest dramatist and the
equal of European playwrights like
Shakespeare
 Sakuntala- (Kalidasa’s masterpiece) charmed
Goethe, a famous German dramatist
Islamization and the Mogul Empire
Islam- brought to India from the Persian Gulf
in 711 AD
Akbar the Great- founder of Mogul Empire.
Wise ruler, promoted arts and literature,
encouraged industries and trade and
tolerated all religions
Shah Jahan- generous patron of art. Built the
Taj Mahal at Agra in memory of his beloved
wife, Mumtaz Mahal
Taj Mahal- marble mausoleum, world’s most
beautiful tomb
AKBAR THE GREAT

SHAH JAHAN
CONTRIBUTION TO CIVILIZATION

1. Gave the world the great religions- Hinduism,

Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism

SIKHISM
The religion of 16 million Indians,
many of them immigrants in British
Commonwealth countries like
Britian. Sikh men wear long beards
and the sikh turban.
 JAINISM
It has a 2 million believers in India,
beliefs in the sacredness of all life,
including plants and will not practice
agriculture so that they do not kill
plants or the smallest insects. These
religions have introduced such
beliefs as vegetarians, yoga, karma,
trancedental meditation and
reincarnation.
2. Developed philosophy ahead of the West.
Including yoga, the discipline of the mind
and the body by spiritual training.
3. LITERATURE-
PANCHATANTRA- FIRST FABLE
-The Clay Cart by Sudakra and Sakuntala by
Kalidasa- first masterpiece
-Mahabharata and Ramayana- great epics

- Bhagavad Gita- world’s greatest

philosophical poem

-Rabindranath Tagore- only Asian

Nobel Prize awardee in literature
4. Ravi Shankar- a modern Indian musician,
influenced music started with the Beatles
 Art- pornography
 Architecture- Taj Mahal in Agra, Mogul

places in New Delhi, temple of Kailasha in

Hyderabad.
 Handicrafts in cloth, wood, metals, leather,

and jewelry
TAJ MAHAL
MOGUL PLACES IN NEW DELHI
TEMPLE OF KAILASHA IN
HYDERABAD
5. INVENTED THE ZERO AND
NUMERALS IN MATHEMATICS
BRITISH INDIA
 Portuguese- first European to arrive
 Rivalry erupted between British and French
commercial companies in India
 French lost this fight for supremacy, and the
Treaty if Paris in 1963 only gave the minor
enclaves of India, for example Pondicherry
INDIA UNDER COMPANY RULE
 Was misfortune of being ruled by commercial
company
 A year later, a nationwide insurrection of
rebelling military units and kingdoms, known
as India's First War of Independence or the
Sepoy Mutiny, seriously challenged the
Company's control but eventually failed. As a
result of the instability, India was brought
under the direct rule of the British Crown.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF BRITISH FOR
THE IMPROVEMENT OF INDIA;
 New legal codes replaced customary practices and put
end to cruel practices like caste system, purdah
(seclusion of women), suttee (burning of windows.
 Modernization of transportation and communications
by a network of railways, highways, telephones,
telegraph, and a postal system.
 Improvement of people’s lives by the introduction of
printing, newspaper, modern farming methods,
irrigation systems, better sanitation and medical care.
 Introduction of western style of education which
produced middle class, trained in English language
and familiar with Western Values and practices.
INDIAN NATIONALISM
 The Indians hated their colonial bondage and
yearned to be free. They resented the loss of
their independence and the arrogance of the
British, who treated them as an inferior race
in their own country. The best jobs, railway
seats, hotels, and clubs were off limits to
native Indians. Britain did not modernize
Indian industries, and the economy
stagnated.
 In the 20th century, a nationwide struggle
for independence was launched by the Indian
National Congress and other political
organizations. Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi
led millions of people in several national
campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience.
MOHANDAS K. GANDHI (“FATHER OF INDIAN
INDEPENDENCE”)
 emerged as the leader of
India’s struggle for freedom.
The doctrine he championed
was civil disobedience, or
non-violent non-cooperation.
Because of his saintly virtues
he was called “Mahatma”
(great soul) and was beloved
by the masses. Was shot by a
crazy Indian anarchist on
Jan. 30,1948 in New Delhi.
 Indian Independence. August 15,1947 was
proclaimed in New Delhi by Lord Mountbaten, the last
British Viceroy.

 Birth of the Indian Republic. When India gained

independence in 1947, it temporarily became a dominion
government pending completion of the constitution. The
constitution assembly finished its work 3 years later, and
put the new Indian Constitution into effect on Jan. 26,
1950. Since 1950, India had many Prime Ministers:
Jawarhalal Nehru (1950-64), Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964-66),
Morarji Desai (1977-1980), Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s daughter
(1966-77) and (1980-84), and her son Rajiv Gandhi.
FROM NEHRU TO GANDHI
Jawarhalal Nehru
 India’s 1st and longest prime
minister and Mahatma
Gandhi’s friend, securely laid
the foundation of the new
state
 Chose a neutral or non-aligned
foreign policy
 World’s largest democracy
leader of the 3rd world
 One of the champions of
decolonization
 Died May 27,1964, succeeded
by his friend Lal Bahadur
Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri
 Took over but died
soon after signing the
Tashkent Declaration
 Succeeded by Indira
Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
 Nehru’s talented daughter and a
widow of a Parsee lawyer
 Ruled India for 14 yrs.
 Introduced a stronger hold on Indian
politics and formed a separate faction
of the Congress party
 Began a mass sterilization of males to
solve the population problem of India
 Green Revolution boosted food
production, life expectancy doubled,
and illiteracy decreased
 Failed to bring peace to communal
fighting between Sikhs and Hindus
 Oct. 31,1984 was assassinated by 2 of
her bodyguards who were Sikh
fanatics
 Ruling Congress chose her son, Rajiv
Gandhi to succeed his mother as Prime
minister
Rajiv Gandhi
 Political style was as
authoritarian as his late
mother
 Brought “information age” to
India
 Offered Pakistan President Zia
a gentleman’s agreement not
to attack each others
territory. was accepted by
Pakistan
 Reached an agreement with Sri
Lankan Pres. Junius
Jayewardene Jul. 29, 1987 to
end the Tamil separatist
movement in Sri Lanka
BIRTH OF INDIAN REPUBLIC
  On 26 January 1950, India became a
republic and a new constitution came into
effect, a parliamentary democracy
 President- ceremonial head of state
 Prime minister- real head of the government
INDIO-PAKISTAN WARS
 First Indio-Pakistan War- 1947 caused by
territorial dispute over Kashmir, a lovely
land on Himalayan foothills which gave the
world’s finest wooden wear.
 India occupies 2/3 of Kashmir and Pakistan 1/3
 Second Indio-Pakistan War-August 1965
 Pakistan renewed it to claim Kashmir and
sent armed terrorist to Indian-occupied
Kashmir
 Finally settled on February 19, 1968 by
International Arbitration Commission 90% of
flat to India and 10% to Pakistan
 Third Indio-Pakistan war- 1971
 Caused by India’s support of the revolution
of the Bengali people of the East Pakistan
against West Pakistan
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
 India’s economic development history can be
broadly divided into three eras, beginning
with the pre-colonial period lasting up to the
18th century. The advent5 of British
colonization started the colonial period in
the early 19th century, which ended with
independence in 1947. The third period
stretches from independence in 1947 until
now.
PRE- COLONIAL
 The citizens of the Indus valley civilization, a
permanent settlement that flourished
between 2800 BC and 1800 BC, practice
agriculture, domesticated animals, used
uniform weights and measures, made tools
and weapons, and traded with other cities.
Evidence of well planned streets, a drainage
system and water supply reveals their
knowledge of urban planning which included
the world’s first urban sanitation systems and
the existence of a form of municipal
government.
 The 1872 census revealed economies were
largely isolated and self-sustaining, with
agriculture the predominant occupation. This
satisfied the food requirements of the village
and provided raw materials for hand-based
industries such as textiles, food processing
and crafts. Although many kingdoms and
rulers, while its craftsmen received a part of
the crops at harvest time for their services.
COLONIAL
 Company rule in India brought a major
change in the taxation environment from
revenue taxes to property taxes, resulting in
mass impoverishment and destitution of
majority of farmers and led to numerous
famines. The economic policies of the British
Raj effectively bankrupted India’s large
handcrafts industry and caused a massive
drain of Indian’s resources.
 . Indian Nationalist employed the successful
Swadeshi movement, as strategy to diminish
British economics superiority by boycotting
Bristish products and the reviving the market
for domestic- made products and production
techniques. India had become a strong
market for superior finished European goods.
This was because of vast gains made by the
Industrial revolution in Europe, the effects of
which was deprived to Colonial India.
INDEPENDENCE 1991
 Indian economic policy after independence
was influenced by the colonial experience
(which was seen by Indian leaders as
exploitative in nature) and by those leader’s
exposure to Fabian socialism. Policy tended
towards protectionism, with a strong
emphasis on import substitution,
industrialization, state intervention in labor
and financial markets, a large public sector,
business regulation, and central planning.
 Five Year Plans of India resembled central
planning in the Soviet Union. Steel, mining,
machine tools, water, telecommunications,
insurance, and electrical plants, among other
industries, were effectively nationalized in
mid-1950s. Elaborate licenses, regulations
and the accompanying red tape, commonly
referred to as Licence Raj, were to set up
business in India between 1947 and 1990.
 Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister, along
with the statistician. Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis, carried on by Indira Gandhi
formulated and oversaw economic policy. They
expected favorable outcomes from this strategy,
because it involved both public and private sectors
and was based on direct and indirect sate
intervention, rather than the more extreme Soviet-
style central command system. The policy of
concentrating simultaneously on capital - and
technology- intensive heavy industry and
subsidizing manual, low –skill cottage industries
was criticized by economist Milton Friedman, who
thought it would waste capital and labor, and
retard the development of small manufacturers.
SINCE 1991
 In the late 80’s, the government led by Rajiv
Gandhi eased restrictions on capacity for
incumbents, removed price controls and reduced
corporate taxes. While this increased the rate
of growth, it also led to high fiscal deficits and a
worsening current account. The collapse of the
Soviet Union, which was India’s major trading
partner, and the first Gulf War, which caused a
spike in oil prices, caused a major balance-of-
payments crisis for India, which found itself
facing the prospect of defaulting on its loans.
India asked for a $ 1.8 billion bailout from IMF,
which in return demanded reforms.
 In response, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao
along with his finance minister and current
Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh
initiated the economic liberalization of 1991.
The reforms did away with the Licence Raj.
(Investment, industrial and import licensing)
and ended many public monopolies, allowing
automatic approval of foreign direct
investment in many sectors.
 Since then, the overall direction of
liberalization has remained the same,
irrespective of the ruling party, although no
party has tried to take on powerful lobbies
such as the trade unions and farmers, or
contentious issues such as reforming labor
laws and reducing agricultural subsidies.
Since 1990 India has emerged as one of the
fastest- growing economies in the developing
worlds; during this period, the economy has
grown constantly, but with a few major
setbacks. This has been accompanied by
increases in life expectancy, literacy rates
and food.
 The Bombay Stock Exchange, in Mumbai, is
Asia's oldest and India's largest stock exchange
by market capitalisation.
 In 2009, India's nominal GDP stood at US$1.243
trillion, which makes it the eleventh-largest
economy in the world. If PPP is taken into
account, India's economy is the fourth largest
in the world at US$3.561 trillion,
corresponding to a per capita income of
US$3,100. The country ranks 139th in nominal
GDP per capita and 128th in GDP per capita at
PPP. With an average annual GDP growth rate
of 5.8% for the past two decades, India is one
of the fastest growing economies in the world.
 From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed
socialist-inspired policies. The economy was
shackled by extensive regulation,
protectionism, and public ownership, leading
to pervasive corruption and slow growth. In
1991, the nation liberalised its economy and
has since moved towards a market-based
system. The policy change in 1991 came
after an acute balance of payments crisis,
and the emphasis since then has been to use
foreign trade and foreign investment as
integral parts of India's economy.
POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Emerging as the nation's single largest party
in the May 2009 Lok Sabha election,
Congress currently leads a coalition UPA
government under Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh. Party President Sonia Gandhi was re-
elected by the Party National Executive in
May 2005. Also a Member of Parliament, she
heads the Congress Lok Sabhadelegation.
Congress prides itself as being
a secular, left of center party,
with a long history of
political dominance
 Although its performance in national elections
had steadily declined during the previous 12
years, its surprise victory in 2004 was a result
of recruiting strong allies into the UPA, the
anti-incumbency factor among voters, and its
courtship of India's many poor, rural and Muslim
voters. Congress political fortunes suffered
badly in the 1990s, as many traditional
supporters were lost to emerging regional and
caste-based parties, such as the Bahujan Samaj
Party and the Samajwadi Party, but have
rebounded since its May 2004 ascension to
power. It currently rules either directly or in
coalition with its allies in 10 states.
 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by
Rajnath Singh, holds the second-largest
number of seats in the Lok Sabha. Former
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee serves as
Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party, and
former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is
Leader of the Opposition. The Hindu-
nationalist BJP draws its political strength
mainly from the "Hindi Belt" in the northern
and western regions of India. Former Foreign
Minister Jaswant Singh was expelled from the
party in August 2009 after authoring a book
which portrayed the founder of Pakistan,
Muhammad Ali-Jinnah, in a positive light.
 The party holds power without outside support in
the states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Madhya
Pradesh; it is part of ruling coalitions in few other
states including Bihar, Orissa and Punjab. Popularly
viewed as the party of the northern upper caste
and trading communities, the BJP made strong
inroads into lower castes in recent national and
state assembly elections. The party must balance
the competing interests of Hindu nationalists, (who
advocate construction of a temple on a disputed
site in Ayodhya, and other primarily religious issues
including the propagation of anti-conversion laws
and violence against religious minorities).
 Four Communist and Marxist parties are united
in a bloc called the "Left Front," which controls
59 parliamentary seats. The Left Front rules
the states of West Bengal and Kerala. The Left
Front provided external support to the UPA
government until a July 2008 confidence vote.
It advocates a secular and Communist ideology
and opposes many aspects of economic
liberalization and globalization, resulting in
dissonance with Prime Minister Singh's liberal
economic approach. The Maoist-inspired
Naxalite insurgency continues to be a major
internal security threat, affecting large parts
of eastern India.
INDIAS PROBLEMS
 Over population
 Mass poverty
 Border of wars with Pakistan and China
 Racial and Religious strife
CULTURE
 Traditional Indian dress varies across
the regions in its colours and styles
and depends on various factors,
including climate. Popular styles of
dress include draped garments such
as sari for women and dhoti or lungi
for men; in addition, stitched clothes
such as salwar kameez for women
and kurta-pyjama and European-style
trousers and shirts for men, are also
popular.
DRESS
 Indian architecture is one area that represents
the diversity of Indian culture. Much of it,
including notable monuments such as the Taj
Mahal and other examples of Mughal
architecture and South Indian architecture,
comprises a blend of ancient and varied local
traditions from several parts of the country and
abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays
notable regional variation.
INDIA'S NATIONAL EMBLEM
The National Emblem of India is a
replica of the Lion of Sarnath,
near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The Lion Capital was erected in
the third century BC by Emperor
Ashoka to mark the spot where
Buddha first proclaimed his
gospel of peace and emancipation
to the four quarters of the
universe.  The National emblem is
thus symbolic of contemporary
India's reaffirmation of its ancient
commitment to world peace and
goodwill.
 The four lions (one hidden from view) -
symbolizing power, courage and
confidence - rest on a circular abacus.
The abacus is girded by four smaller
animals - guardians of the four directions:
the lion of the north, the elephant of the
east, the horse of the south and the bull
of the west.  The abacus rests on a lotus
in full bloom, exemplifying the
fountainhead of life and creative
inspiration. The motto 'Satyameva Jayate'
inscribed below the emblem in
Devanagari script means 'truth alone
triumphs'.
NATIONAL ANTHEM OF INDIA
 Composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the song
Jana Gana Mana was first sung on December
27, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian
National Congress. On January 24, 1950, the
Constituent Assembly adopted the song as
the National Anthem of India.The complete
song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza
comprises the full version of the National
Anthem.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
NATIONAL SONG OF INDIA
 Composed by Bankim Chandra, this song
appears in the Bengali novel  Anand Math. 
The English translation of Vande Mataram
rendered by Shree Aurobindo,  is considered
to be the "official" and best.  The first stanza
of this song has been given the status of our
national song.
 ENGLISH
TRANSLATION
SANSKRIT VERSION
INDIA'S NATIONAL SPORT

 Hockey is the National Game

of India. Unmatched
excellence and incomparable
virtuosity brought India a
string of Olympic gold
medals. The brilliant Indians
brought a touch of black
magic to their play and the
ball juggling feats of the
Indians were a sheer delight.
 The Golden Era of hockey in
India was the period from
1928 - 1956 when India won 6
consecutive gold medals in
the Olympics. During the
Golden Era, India played 24
Olympic matches, won all 24,
scored 178 goals (at an
average of 7.43 goals per
match) and conceded only 7
goals. The two other gold
medals for India came in the
1964 Tokyo Olympics and the
1980 Moscow Olympics.
 INDIA'S NATIONAL BIRD
 Male bird of species P.
cristatus, is a native of
India, with striking plumage
and upper tail converts
marked with iridescent
ocelli, able to expand its
tail erect like fan as
ostentatious display.
Peacocks are related to
pheasants.
 Found wild in India (and
also domesticated in
villages) they live in jungle
lands near water. They
were once bred for food
but now hunting of
peacocks is banned in
India. The peahen has no
plumage. These birds do
not sound as beautiful as
they look - they have a
harsh call.
INDIA'S NATIONAL ANIMAL
 Large Asiatic carnivorous
feline quadruped,
Panthera Tigris,
maneless, of tawny
yellow colour with
blackish transverse
stripes and white belly,
proverbial for its power
and its magnificence.
 There are very few tigers left in
the world today. A decade ago the
tiger population in India had
dwindled to a few hundreds. The
Government of India, under its
Project Tiger programme, started
a massive effort to preserve the
tiger population. Today, thanks to
Project Tiger, India's population of
tigers has considerably increased.
 INDIA'S NATIONAL TREE
Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis,
whose branches root themselves
like new trees over a large area.
The roots then give rise to more
trunks and branches. Because of
this characteristic and its
longevity, this tree is considered
immortal and is an integral part of
the myths and legends of India.
Even today, the banyan tree is the
focal point of village life and the
village council meets under the
shade of this tree.
INDIA'S NATIONAL FLOWER
 The Lotus or water lily is an
aquatic plant of Nymphaea with
broad floating leaves and bright
fragrant flowers that grow only in
shallow waters. The leaves and
flowers float and have long stems
that contain air spaces. The big
attractive flowers have many
petals overlapping in a
symmetrical pattern.
The root functions are carried out
by rhizomes that fan out
horizontally through the mud
below the water. Lotuses,
prized for their serene beauty,
are delightful to behold as their
blossoms open on the surface of
a pond. In India the sacred lotus
is legendary and much folklore
and religious mythology is
woven around it.
 INDIA'S NATIONAL FLAG
The Indian flag was designed as a symbol
of freedom. The late Prime Minister
Nehru called it a flag not only of
freedom for ourselves,
but a symbol of
freedom to all
people.
 The flag is a horizontal tricolour in equal proportion of
deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark
green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length
of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white
band, there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the
Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion
Capital. Its diameter approximates the width of the white
band and it has 24 spokes. The saffron stands for courage,
sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, for
purity and truth; the green for faith and fertility.
INDIA'S NATIONAL FRUIT
A fleshy fruit, eaten ripe or
used green for pickles etc., of the
tree Mangifera indica, the mango is
one of the most important and widely
cultivated fruits of the tropical world.
Its juicy fruit is a rich source of Vitamins A,
C and D. In India there are over100 varieties
of mangoes, in different sizes, shapes and
colours. Mangoes, have been cultivated in
India from time immemorial. The poet
Kalidasa sang its praises. Alexander savoured
its taste, as did the Chinese pilgrim Hieun
Tsang. Akbar planted 100,000 mango trees in
Darbhanga, known as Lakhi Bagh.
 The majority of Indian
women put a red dot
between their eyebrows.
The red dots signify their
martial status — married
women put a red dot, while
unmarried girls put a small
black dot on their forehead.
The practice of putting a
red dot on the forehead is
primarily related to Hindu
mythology.
 It is believed that after marriage, the
primary duty of the woman is to take care of
her kin and kith. The red dot, in one hand,
symbolizes the good fortune of a married
woman, and on the other hand, it reminds
her to uphold the sanctity of marriage.
At one point of time, every married woman
used to religiously follow this norm.
However, with the passage of time, the
thinking of people has changed dramatically.
In the present day, women are educated and
financially independent. Some of them do
stringently follow the tradition, but for most
of them, putting a red dot has become more
of a fashion statement rather than a
religious custom. Apart from red dot, women
prefer the wear dots of different colors and
styles, depending upon their clothing.
 The red dot also helps the Hindu woman or
stand out in the crowd. In India, every
religion is associated with some
characteristic features. For instance, Muslim
women compulsorily cover their face with a
veil whenever they venture out. Likewise,
the red dot on the forehead of a woman
denotes that she is a Hindu.
 In addition to women, Indian men also
wear red dot. Again, this tradition is
purely related to Hindu religious
beliefs. Normally, after the
performance of some rituals or
religious ceremonies, the red dot is
put on the forehead of men. Also,
during festivals like Holi, Diwali,
Dusshera and Raksha Bandhan, Indian
men wear a red dot on their forehead.
Whenever, men go for a long voyage
or setup a new business venture or
kick-start an important campaign,
then too the red dot is placed on their
forehead as a mark of good luck.
 Priests, monks and saints also
put a red dot on their
forehead. It is believed that
between the eyebrows is
present the Ajna Chakra or
the third eye, which is the
center of spiritual energy. It is
also called the Guru’s
(teacher) seat. By putting a
red dot at this point, the
monks and priests pay respect
to their Guru, and seek their
blessings to activate the
Chakra and overcome the
inner ego.
 The position of the tilaka is
standard: centre of the forehead. It
represents a third, inner eye. Hindu
tradition holds that all people have
three eyes, the two outer ones
used for seeing the outside world,
the third one focusing inward
toward God. As such, the red dot
signifies piety as well as serving as
a constant reminder to keep God in
the front of a believer's thoughts.
and first you clear that indian
people not apply a dot on
forehead, the peoples only Hindus
which worship hindu religion they
apply a dot on head not indian.