25 Interesting & Amazing Facts About India That Will Surprise You

Did you know this Amazing fact about India, that over 19,500 Languages and Dialects are spoken in India?

or…

Did you Know that Indians consumed over 1.7 billion litres of whisky in 2017-2018?

Well… these are some of the amazing facts about India that are unknown to Most of the Indians.

As you may know: 

India is a land that never fails to surprise locals and foreigners alike.

Other than myriad cultures peculiar to this country, there are several Amazing Facts about India that remain relatively hidden.

These unknown and interesting facts about India will amaze you and everyone else around the world.

Some of these facts have been existing in India for Centuries. Unfortunately, a lot of these Indian facts remained Hidden till recent Years.

So, If you are curious and want to know more of such unknown facts about India then go no further we’ve done the research for you and listed down 25 unknown facts of India.

25 Interesting And Amazing Facts About India:

1. Daulat Beg Oldie: World’s Highest Airfield

The world’s largest airfield is located in Daulat Beg Oldie. The runway of this small airport is situated at 5,065 meters Above Sea Level (ASL).

Though Daulat Beg Oldie airfield is not used for civilian passengers, it receives a lot of aircraft from the Indian Armed Forces.

2. Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta: Railway Station with Longest Name

Located on the Arakkonam- Renigunta section of Southern Railway, Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta has the longest name among any railway stations in India.

Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta is located in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh that borders Tamil Nadu.

3. Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport: Highest Civilian Airport in India

Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport is located in Leh, in the Indian state, Jammu & Kashmir.

It ranks among the highest civilian airports of the world and the only one in India.

Landing and take-off from this airport is very difficult due to mountain winds. Leh airport is jointly used for civilian and military flights.

4. Bhoot Jolokia: World’s Hottest Chili

This is a hotly disputed fact by various countries and chilli aficionados.

But Bhoot Jolokia, a chilli pepper indigenous to India’s north eastern states is the hottest in the world. Various varieties of Bhoot Jolokia exist and are used as a spice.

The hottest variant was tested at 1,650,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs)- a scale used to measure pungency of chilli peppers.

American variant, Carolina Reaper, which is claimed to be the hottest chilli pepper is, in fact, a cross-breed of India’s Bhoot Jolokia and Mexico’s Red Habanero.

5. Bharatiya Janata Party: World’s Largest Political Organization

With a membership of more than 150 million citizens, Bharatiya Janata Party is the world’s single largest political entity.

Two BJP leaders, late Atal Behari Vajpayee and Narendra Damodardas Modi are acclaimed as two of the best Prime Ministers to have ruled India.

BJP’s membership base continues to grow thanks to popular reforms introduced by the Narendra Modi government.

6. BrahMos: World’s Fastest Anti-Ship Missile

Designed to destroy enemy targets within a 450km range, India’s BrahMos is the world’s fastest hypersonic cruise missile.

It flies at speeds of Mach 2.8 with much faster versions under development. BrahMos is a joint venture between India’s Defense Research & Development Organization and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya.

BrahMos-II which is expected to be deployed by the Indian Armed Forces will have a speed of Mach 7 to Mach 8, the highest in the world.

7. Odisha Police Pigeon Service: World’s Only Pigeon Post

Believe it or not, police in India’s eastern state Odisha continue to breed and utilize pigeons to carry messages between remote locations.

Large parts of Odisha are under rainforest. Hence, setting up modern telecom facilities are nonexistent.

Odisha Police Pigeon Service has over 200 Belgian Homer pigeons and an entire department for their upkeep.

Odisha Police Pigeon Service has played a key role in providing communications during disasters and major national events.

8. Siachen Glacier: World’s Highest Battlefield

Thanks to swift action by the Indian Armed Forces, the Siachen Glacier is an integral part of this country.

Siachen Glacier and its surrounding area of about 2,600 sq. meters was hotly contested by Pakistan which made several highly unsuccessful attempts to wrest the territory from Indians.

Located 20,000 feet Above Sea Level, this area is the world’s highest battlefield.

After the success of Operation Meghdoot in 1984, India maintains a strong military presence. However, Pakistan army also has bases nearby.

9. Battle of Longewala: Only Example of Warplanes Destroying Land Attack

On December 4, 1971, Pakistan Army made a daredevil attempt to storm the Indian military outpost at Longewala with an objective of capturing Jaisalmer, a major city in Rajasthan.

The Pakistani thrust consisted of highly sophisticated American made tanks. A small Indian contingent of 120 Indian soldiers were the only opponents.

These soldiers held till daybreak. Early morning Marut Hunter aircraft from Indian Air Force launched concerted air strikes and destroyed over 36 Pakistani tanks and more than 500 military vehicles.

Over 2,000 Pakistani soldiers were killed during the Indian counteroffensive. The Battle of Longewala is the world’s only example where only air power could annihilate a powerful ground attack.

10. Indian Rupee: Global Currency

Yes, the Indian Rupee was once a global currency. It was legal tender in countries of East Africa, Arabia and Mesopotamia.

Till the early 1970s, the Indian Rupee was used as official currency in various Arabian Gulf countries including Qatar and UAE.

In some countries, Indian Rupee notes were overprinted with the name of the country where they were circulated.

In other countries, Indian Rupee notes were dipped in indelible red ink to distinguish them from ones used in India.

Today, seven countries including India use Rupee (their own) as currency: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles and Indonesia (Rupiah).

11. Ancient Name of Indian Money

Talking about the Indian Rupee, the name of this currency traces its origin to the 16th Century AD.

The word was first used by Sultan Sher Shah Suri who ruled parts of India till 1545 AD.

The ruler introduced a silver currency called Rupiya- which means ‘silver’ in Sanskrit. Since then, Rupiya or Rupee is used to describe Indian currency.

Also Read: Top 100 Richest Persons in India

12. World’s Largest Movie Industry

India is the world’s largest producer of movies- nearly 1,200 per year. India also has the world’s second oldest cinema industry whose history dates back to around 110 years.

Mumbai is the hub of India’s movie production and is fondly called Bollywood.

Other prominent movies making centres around India include Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Further, movie making is also becoming popular in Ahmedabad, Jalandhar and New Delhi, among other places in India, which will ensure the country retains the leading position in cinema making.

13. World’s Largest Consumer of Whisky

India drinks three times or more whisky compared over any other country in the world.

Indians consumed over 1.7 billion litres of whisky in 2017-2018 and the figure is growing.

While these figures sound alarming, the amount is fairly low considering the country’s population.

Two brands of Indian whisky– Officer’s Choice and McDowell’s No-1 rank among the highest selling in the world.

14. Largest Drinking Water Pot in the World

This is one of the most amazing fact that you won’t believe. The King of Jaipur, an erstwhile princely state and present-day capital of Rajasthan would drink only water from the River Ganga.

Raja Sawai Madho Singh, a ruler took this tradition even further- he would drink water from Ganga even on his foreign trips.

To enable this, he had two silver pots- each weighing a massive 350kg, crafted for the purpose.

These are the largest water pots in the world and find mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

15. Jaivana: World’s Longest Cannon

Jaivana cannon is the longest wheeled cannon ever produced in the world. It is now on display at the Jaigadh fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

According to legend, the cannon was ordered by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh-II of Jaipur in 1720. Jaivana is 31 feet long and has a firing barrel of 20.25 feet.

The cannon weighs a formidable 50 tons. Jaivana was fired only once using over 100kg of explosives to launch a 50kg iron ball.

The sound of this test firing is said to have rattled the entire city of Jaipur and its surroundings.

The iron ball created a huge crater where it fell- some 38km away. This crater is now called the Chaksu pond.

16. Qutb Minar: Tallest Tower of Bricks

Standing 240 feet tall, Popular Monument of India Qutb Minar more than qualifies as a wonder of the world. Built-in the 11th Century AD by Sultan Qutbuddin Aibak, the entire tower is made with bricks.

The tower consists of five levels that can be accessed by stairs. Qutb Minar features on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is a popular attraction among visitors to New Delhi.

17. Gol Gumbaz: World’s Unique Architecture

Gol Gumbaz is the tomb of the legendary ruler of Bijapur, Sultan Mohammad Adel Shah Bahman Shah.

The mausoleum located in Bijapur is built with a unique architecture: whispers on one side of the monument can clearly be heard on the other.

Till date, no architect in the world has been able to replicate this unique acoustic effect.

Modern-day research has also been unable to find how architects working for the Bijapur Sultanate possessed this unique yet sophisticated technology in the 17th Century AD.

18. Floating Post Offices: Unique Yet True

India has the unique distinction of having about half a dozen floating post offices.

These post offices are located in Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

The reason: these states have floating markets at select locations.

People sell their wares from small rafts and canoes since waterways are the only mode of transport. To cater to this population, India Post offers floating post offices.

Some of these operate only seasonally. They offer the full range of postal services.

19. Konark Temple: Tapping Earth’s Magnetic Field

You would definitely have heard of Konark temple, dedicated to the Sun and located in Odisha. It is a UNESCO World Heritage monument.

But did you know this amazing fact? The entire Konark temple complex is built in a manner that taps the magnetic field of Earth?

In fact, the Earth’s magnetic and gravitational fields were so well tapped by its architects that stone and metal images of deities could levitate or float a few millimetres above ground.

A lot of research into this technology continues till date.

20. Kaju Feni: Only Liquor from India with Geographical Indication

Geographical Indication or GI is an international standard for alcohol.

For example, whisky has to be made in Scotland to be called Scotch while Champagne has to be brewed in a specific region of France using a certain variety of grape.

The only liquor from India to hold this international standard of GI is Cashew Feni or Kaju Feni- the ubiquitous alcoholic drink of Goa.

It won the GI certification in 2009. Despite its uniqueness, getting GI for Kaju Feni was not easy: there were contenders for similar drinks distilled in Brazil and Mozambique, also made with the juice of cashew fruit.

21. Land of 19,500 Languages

According to figures released by the Indian government, over 19,500 languages and dialects are spoken in India.

The 2011 national census of India pegs this figure at 19,565 languages.

Some Indian languages are only spoken and do not have an individual script.

India is also home to over 780 languages that have scripts. Some of these languages and dialects are on verge of extinction because the number of their native speakers is dwindling.

This phenomenon is triggered due to the dumping of the native language by certain communities in favour of English, Hindi and others.

Also Read: 25 Most Popularly Celebrated Festivals of India

22. Indian Railways: Holds Several Records

Indian Railways holds several records to its credit. It ranks as the fourth largest rail network in the world.

Indian Railways is also the fourth largest employer in the world.

Train services operated by Indian Railways connects over 8,500 stations across the country. Indian Railways operates over 13,200 trains daily on long-distance and suburban routes.

Indian Railways is also the world’s cheapest network: on average, a passenger pays only 28 Paise per kilometre of travel.

23. Smart-Phones Everywhere

Close to 310 million Indians use smart-phones, which is the second highest in the world. And this figure is growing steadily.

In fact, Indian mobile networks are offering cheap Internet access at Fourth Generation (4G) speeds, which encourages more people to opt for smart-phones.

India is also home to some of the cheapest 4G phones with models starting from as low as US$ 25 per handset.

24. Second Biggest User of Mobile

India has some 1.5 billion subscribers connected to Second Generation (2G), Third Generation (3G) and 4G networks.

However, some sources peg this figure to a modest 730 million, considering that several Indians have more than one mobile subscription.

According to various estimates, India will far outstrip China as the largest user of mobile phones as telecom services providers move to improve connectivity in remote parts of India.

25. Most Banked Country

Banks in India hold whopping 1.58 billion current and savings accounts- the highest number in the world.

The country is home to hundreds of micro, small and large banks operating in the cooperative, private and public sectors.

The number of banks is unparalleled anywhere in the world, though doubts are now being raised over the efficacy of the nation’s banking system and its profitability.

In Conclusion

For an ancient civilization and a very modern state, India definitely holds wonders for everyone.

Indians aptly blend the ancient and modern, are known to improvise and make the best of their circumstances.

Hence, there are lots of things you will find only in India. While some of these are known, others remain concealed from the world.

This article is an endeavour to highlight some of the best Facts about India.

We will continue our research to discover and bring to light several hidden and unknown facts about India that you will find interesting while people around the world will stay amazed.

If you know any unknown fact about India that is not listed above then do share it with us in the comments section.