Fun facts about India

By India 4U editors · Updated Oct 25, 2026 · About India 4U

We checked these before we wrote them down. Some are well known, a few will surprise even people who grew up in India.

People and languages

India is the world’s most populous country. It passed China in 2023, according to UN estimates.
India’s constitution recognises 22 scheduled languages, and hundreds more are spoken.
Hindi and English are used by the central government. Most states also have their own official language.
The whole country runs on one time zone, IST, which is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC.
India drives on the left.

Chess grew out of an Indian game called chaturanga.
Snakes and ladders comes from an old Indian game about virtue and vice.
The rules for zero as a number were written down by the mathematician Brahmagupta in the 7th century.
The word shampoo comes from the Hindi champo, a head massage.
Yoga began in India. The UN made 21 June the International Day of Yoga.

Mawsynram and Cherrapunji (Sohra) in Meghalaya are among the wettest places on Earth.
Meghalaya’s living root bridges are grown from the roots of rubber fig trees over many years.
India is home to most of the world’s wild tigers.
Kaziranga in Assam protects about two-thirds of the world’s greater one-horned rhinos.
The Thar Desert in Rajasthan and the salt desert of Kutch are both in India, and so are some of the world’s highest mountains.
India’s coastline is more than 11,000 km long by the government’s latest measurement, which counts the islands in much finer detail than the old figure of about 7,500 km.
Ladakh is a high-altitude desert. Leh sits at about 3,500 metres.

India has 45 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, after Sarnath was added in July 2026.
Srinagar has a floating post office on a houseboat on Dal Lake.
Chail in Himachal Pradesh has a cricket ground often described as one of the highest in the world.
The Golden Temple’s free kitchen feeds tens of thousands of people every day, whoever they are.
The Kumbh Mela is one of the largest gatherings of people on Earth, and is on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage.
Kolkata’s Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge built without nuts and bolts. It is riveted.
Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is a working railway station and a World Heritage Site.

India produces more milk than any other country.
Chillies came to India from the Americas, probably with Portuguese traders. Today India is one of the biggest chilli producers in the world.
India grows a huge share of the world’s spices, from pepper and cardamom in Kerala to saffron in Kashmir.
Darjeeling tea has a protected geographical indication, like Champagne.
Many states have their own thali, a full meal of small dishes on one plate.
Tea became an everyday drink in India only in the 20th century.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, and many others join in.
Holi is the festival of colours, marking the arrival of spring.
Durga Puja in Kolkata is on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage.
India makes more films than any other country, in many languages, not only in Mumbai.
Cricket is followed with something close to religious devotion.

Indian Railways is one of the largest rail networks in the world.
Three of India’s mountain railways (Darjeeling, Nilgiri and Kalka-Shimla) are together a World Heritage Site.
You can go from snow in Ladakh to the beaches of Kerala in the same month.
Foreign visitors from most countries can get an e-Visa online.
There’s a best place to visit in India for every month of the year. Try our month planner.

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