The saffron stands for courage sacrifice and the

The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation. The white, is meant for purity and truth. The green is for faith and fertility. The navy blue wheel denotes the continuity of the nation's progress which is deemed to be as boundless as the blue sky and as fathomless as the deep blue sea.

5, 000 year old civilization 325 languages spoken – 1, 652 dialects 18 official languages 29 states, 5 union territories 3. 28 million sq. kilometers - Area 7, 516 kilometers - Coastline 1, 000, 000 people in 2000

Parliamentary form of Government Secular democratic constitution Worlds largest democracy since 55 years 4 th largest economy Fastest growing IT super power Indian Railways , the biggest employer in the world.

Mythology

AUM or OM The first sound of the Almighty Oneness with the supreme

Generates-Brahma The Trinity Observes-Vishnu Destroys-Shiva Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva

The Great Indian Epics Ramayana The first Indian epic Mahabharata Longest Epic in world literature with 100, 000 two-line stanzas

Indus Valley Civilization- one of the world’s first great urban civilizations. Harappa Civilization- 2700 BC

World’s first university in Takshila – 700 B. C Ayurveda- earliest school of medicine known to humans Sanskrit Language –most suitable for computer software

Yoga- Made in India Origin – 5000 BC Documented by 200 BC – 300 AD

Origin of Martial arts – 200 BC Kalarippayat

1700 s – British invasion

15 th August , 1947 Indian Independence 26 th January , 1950 Republic- India

National Emblem “Truth alone triumphs”

National Animal - Tiger

National Bird - Peacock

National Flower - Lotus

Great Indian Personalities

Aryabhatta Invented the Zero

Mahatma Gandhi Father of the nation Embodiment of Non- Violence

Swami Vivekananda Champion of humanitarianism

Ramanujam Great Indian Mathematician Postulated and proved 3, 542 theorems

Rabindranath Tagore 1913 – Nobel Prize in Literature

C. V Raman 1930 - Nobel Laureate in Physics Work on scattering of light and Raman effect

Mother Teresa 1979 – Nobel Prize in Peace

Har Gobind Khorana 1968 - Nobel Laureate in Medicine Work on interpretation of the genetic code

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar 1983 - Nobel Laureate in Physics Work on structure and evolution of stars

Dance forms

More than 45 folk dances

7 Classical Dance forms

Bharata Natyam

Kathak

Kathakali

Kuchipudi

Manipuri

Mohini Attam

Odissi

More than 15 vocal forms More than 60 music instruments

India - God’s own country Celebrates more than 65 festivals

Places of historic importance

Tirumala - Tirupati World’s richest temple

Saint Thomas Cathedral Statue of Virgin Mary brought from Portugal in 1543

The Golden Temple

Jamma Masjid The biggest mosque in India

Thousand pillar temple

Gateway of India

Jantar Mantar – 1716 Modernistic structures to observe the movement of stars

Mysore Palace Illuminated by 97, 000 light bulbs

Buddha Statue Largest monolithic statue in Asia

Dal Lake Jewel in the crown of Kashmir

The Taj Mahal

Calcutta – City of joy

Cherrapunji Wettest place on earth

India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only. -Mark Twain We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made. -Albert Einstein

Be Proud of Being an Indian Jai Hind -