Far Away Friday - India

We have been learning about India...

Size: India is the 7th largest country in the world

Location: Lies in south Asia, between Pakistan, China and Nepal.

Capital: The capital of India in New Delhi.

Population: 1,147,995,904 (July 2008 est.)

Religion: The two main religions are Hinduism and Islam. India has many festivals. The most widely known and popular celebrations include the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Holi, and Dussehra. Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Onam in Kerala are harvest festivals celebrated by people belonging to all religions.

National Flag: India's flag was adopted on July 22, 1947, after India became independent from Great Britain. India's flag is a horizontal tricolour with equal sized bands of deep saffron (orange) on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. Each colour represents something different:

• Saffron represents courage and sacrifice
• White represents peace, unity and truth
• Green represents faith (Islam) and fertility
• Blue represents the sky and the ocean.
• In the middle of the white band is a blue wheel with 24 spokes. This is the Dharma Chakra ("Wheel of Law"), the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. The Chakra represents the continuing progress of the nation and the importance of justice in life. This centre symbol or the 'Chakra', is a Buddhist symbol which dates back to 20th century BC.

Climate: India's climate ranges from tropical monsoon in the south to temperate in the north.

Major rivers: The major river in India is the Ganges. Hindus consider the river to be holy

Language: There are 17 major languages in use – can you find out what they are? Hindi is the national language

English-Hindi Numbers:

1	one		ek
2	two		do
3	three		teen
4	four		chaar
5	five		panch
6	six		chai
7	seven		saat
8	eight		aath
9	nine		nau
10	ten		dus

How to say hello in Hindi: damaste. Click here to find out how to say "hello" in other languages !

This is the National Emblem of India and is a replica of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. It represents four lions standing back to back which symbolise power, courage and confidence.

This the Taj Mahal. It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. There are precious gems and stones pressed into its walls. It took 22,000 workmen 22 years to complete. The Taj Mahal is considered one of the wonders of the world. It is surrounded by large acres of gardens on the banks of the Yamuna River in the city of Agra. The most famous part of the monument is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. It has a white marble dome.

The National Anthem of India - "Jana-Gana-Mana" (Thou Art the Ruler of All Minds)

In Hindi...	...English translation
Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He Bharat Bhagya Vidhata Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha Dravida Utkala Banga Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga Ucchala Jaladhi Taranga Tubh Shubha Name Jage Tubh Shubha Ashisha Mange Gahe Tubh Jaya Gata Jan Gan Mangaldayak Jay He Bharat Bhagya Vidhata Jaye He ! Jaye He ! Jaye He ! Jaye, Jaye, Jaye, Jaye He	Thou are the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India's destiny. The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujurat and Maratha. Of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal. It Echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for your blessing and sing thy praise. The salvation of all people is thy hand, thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, Victory, Victory to thee.
The Jana Gana Mana was composed by Shri Rabindranath Tagore and first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on December 27th, 1911. It was adopted as the National Anthem of India on 24th January, 1950 by the Constituent Assembly. The first stanza( out of five stanzas) of the song forms the National Anthem.