Portal:India/Did you know 11

This is a selection of articles on Wikipedia that appeared on the India Portal's Did you know section. (Archives are in sets of approximately 50 items each)

Did you know...



 * 1) ... that the Purna-Kalasha (pictured), worshipped by Hindus as the Divine Mother, symbolizes mother Earth with her water, minerals and vegetation?
 * 2) ...that Nepali nationalists seek a Greater Nepal that extends the present boundaries of Nepal into the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim?
 * 3) ...that Palwankar Vithal became the first Dalit cricketer to captain the Hindus team in the Bombay Quadrangular cricket competition, a milestone in the Hindu society's struggle against caste discrimination?
 * 4) ...that the former Indian Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani famously promoted an Indo-Pakistani confederation, asserting that the partition was mutually harmful?
 * 5) ...that unlike other sampradayas in Hinduism, which insist that the clergy lead an ascetic's life, the clergy in most Rudra sampradaya sects are expected to marry and live a worldly life with their family?
 * 6) ...that Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) in Lahore Fort was originally decorated with frescoes that were later replaced with pietra dura and convex glass and mirror mosaic?
 * 7) ...that mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton helped cricketers Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis overcome personal crises and helped Virender Sehwag stay focused as he scored 319 in the 2008 Chennai Test?
 * 8) ...Kaash, was the last Hindi film in which Kishore Kumar did playback singing?
 * 9) ...that the inscription eulogising Kappe Arabhatta, a 7th century Chalukya warrior, records the earliest example of Kannada poetry metre Tripadi?
 * 10) ...that Mahendralal Sarkar, an allopath-turned-homeopathic physician, was the founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, the first national science association of India?
 * 11) ...that before working as biomechanist to the Indian cricket team, Ian Frazer helped Australian cricketer Greg Chappell develop a patented cricket training program?
 * 12) ...that although spoken by less than 18,686 people, the Kulung language has eight dialects and covers the "Mahakulung" ethno-linguistic area?
 * 13) ...that Jamshedji Framji Madan was a pioneer of Indian cinema, whose film production company Madan Theatres Limited once controlled half of British India's box office?
 * 14) ...that villagers in the drought-prone Ranibandh area in West Bengal’s Bankura district migrate to neighbouring districts in the harvesting season?
 * 15) ...that a proposed strategic road link through Bangladesh and its capital Dhaka will reduce the travel distance between the Indian cities of Agartala and Kolkata from 1,700 km to 400 km?
 * 16) ...that Moti Masjid (Lahore), built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, was turned into a gemstone repository by Ranjit Singh during the Sikh rule of Punjab?
 * 17) ...that the Delhi-Lahore Bus, a symbol of Indo-Pakistani friendship, continued running during the 1999 Kargil War?
 * 18) ...that the Maitreyi Express was launched on Pohela Baisakh in 2008 to revive the railway link between India and Bangladesh that had been closed for 43 years?
 * 19) ...that A. V. Meiyappan produced India's first dubbed film, Harischandra, in 1944?
 * 20) ...that migrants from India form over 40% of the total population of the United Arab Emirates?
 * 21) ...that Camling is an ancient and endangered Kiranti language, with only about 10,000 people in eastern Nepal, Bhutan and India?
 * 22) ...that Palwankar Shivram, brother of the Dalit cricketers Baloo and Vithal, was a spin bowling all-rounder who represented the All-India cricket team that toured England in 1911?
 * 23) ...that Haraprasad Shastri discovered the Charyapada, poems written in the earliest-known precursor to the Indo-Aryan languages?
 * 24) ...that the Birhor people are a tribal forest people, traditionally nomadic, living primarily in the Indian state of Jharkhand?
 * 25) ...that Nathaniel Higginson, the first Mayor of Madras city and the second American-born President of Madras, was the son of a Puritan minister, a leading investigator in the Salem witch trials?
 * 26) ...that "Maphriyono" (Maphrian) meaning, "to make fruitful", or "one who gives fecundity" is another term for Catholicos of India?
 * 27) ...that the fact that no one has been arrested in the murder of Indian ex-parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri is seen as evidence of government complicity?
 * 28) ...that Hindus believe that god Vishnu falls asleep in the cosmic ocean of milk on the cosmic serpent, for a period of four months on the day of Shayani Ekadashi?
 * 29) ...that Mahendranath Gupta (pictured) was closely associated with two notable figures in Hinduism&mdash;as a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and as a teacher to Paramahansa Yogananda?
 * 30) ...that traditional artisans in one village in the Bagmundi area of Purulia district in West Bengal make the masks used in Chhau dance?
 * 31) ...that a rock edict of Emperor Ashoka found at Maski in the Indian State of Karnataka in 1915, was the first one to refer him by the name Asoka
 * 32) ...that the discovery of antennae swords at Kallur in the Indian state of Karnataka, was the first instance of the Copper Hoard culture being found in South India?
 * 33) ...that Ho people, in Jharkhand, India, have a literacy rate of 39.2%, lower than the state average which is amongst the lowest literacy rates in India?
 * 34) ...that St.Thomas, the apostle of Jesus Christ established the Church in India in AD 52?
 * 35) ...that there are hints of political opposition to the land acquisition for the Special Economic Zone and industrial hub at Saltora in the "neglected" Bankura district in India?
 * 36) ...that the Anekāntavāda philosophy of Jainism encourages its adherents to consider the beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties?
 * 37) ...that according to Hindu mythology, the deity Revanta (pictured) was born from the union of the sun-god Surya and his wife Saranya in the form of horse and mare?
 * 38) ...that the discovery of horse bones at the archaeological site of Hallur in south India refuted the theory that horses were introduced to this region as part of the Indo-Aryan migration?
 * 39) ...that rock edicts of Emperor Ashoka, found at Brahmagiri in the present-day Karnataka state of India, indicated the southernmost extent of the Mauryan Empire?
 * 40) ...that the Telugu film Amma Cheppindi was inspired by the science fiction story Flowers for Algernon?
 * 41) ...that Sir William Langhorne, 1st Baronet established the Madras Record Office, the oldest record office of the British East India Company and one of the oldest archival institutions in the world?
 * 42) ...that Chamunda (pictured, a fearsome aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother, was worshipped by ritual human and animal sacrifices along with offerings of wine?
 * 43) ...that Kashmir Singh, an Indian spy, was released last week after 35 years of captivity in Pakistan?
 * 44) ...that Epigraphia Carnatica, compiled by Benjamin L. Rice, contains a study of about 9000 inscriptions found in the Old Mysore region of India?
 * 45) ...that Nalknad Palace in the Indian state of Karnataka was the final refuge of Chikka Veerarajendra, the last king of Kodagu?
 * 46) ...that Swami Rama Tirtha was one of the first Hindu swamis to teach Vedanta in the West?
 * 47) ...that the Kannada writer Kirtinath Kurtakoti died of cardiac arrest just hours after his wife's death?
 * 48) ...that Banduan and Manbazar in West Bengal, India, are located in an area of violent political activities by Maoists?
 * 49) ...that the Best Bakery case is a legal case involving the killing of 14 people in Vadodara, India, during the 2002 Gujarat violence?
 * 50) ...that hawkers in Kolkata, numbering 275,000, occupy pavements and generate annual business worth around 2 billion dollars?