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Indian Passport (Source: Wikipedia (Indian Passport))
Indians tend to have trouble getting visas. But did you know that this hasn't and isn't always the case?
Notice outlining the history of the Barog Tunnel (Source: Wikipedia (Notice at Barog Tunnel Entrance))
What does this picturesque village in Himachal Pradesh have in common with a British engineer?
Radhanath Sikdar (pre 1870) (Source: Wikipedia (Radhanath Sikdar))
In 2004, the Department of Posts released a stamp featuring Radhanath Sikdar. Who was he and why are his two feet still being talked about?
Pangboche Hand (Source: Wikipedia)
Have you heard the story about the Hollywood actor who smuggled a finger through Indian Customs?
Easter Island Moai (Source: HowStuffWorks (Easter Island Statues))
Often cited as the remotest place on Earth, how is Easter Island linked to India?
First page of 'The Arctic Home in the Vedas' 1925 Edition (Source: Wikipedia)
Did you know that Lokmanya Tilak believed that the original home of Aryans was the North Pole?

Quotable quotes

Did you know?

Suny Delhi

The seat of Delaware county in the state of New York, USA, is the town of Delhi. It is named after India's capital city as its founder, an Ebenezer Foote, was nicknamed, "The Great Mogul". Delhi, NY is pronounced "Del-hy" and is also home to a State University of New York or SUNY Delhi.

The terrible beast of Punjab

Hugh Falconer, a 19th century Scottish palaeontologist, named a species of extinct elephant-like creatures Dinotherium pentapotamiae which, translated from Greek means "terrible beast [of the] five rivers". The pentapotamiae (penta = five, potamiae = rivers) is a translation of Punjab (panj/panch = five, ab = river/water) which is where the fossils were found.

Belur and brilliant beryls

The name of the gemstone, beryl, probably originates from the Prakrit veruliya and Sanskrit vaidurya- which might be of Dravidian provenance. One theory points its source to the city of Velur (modern Belur, Karnataka). Derivatives such as brilliant and beryllium share these origins.

Ganga and Kurma

In the early 90s, the Indian government released specially-raised flesh-eating turtles into the Ganga to eat and clear the river of partly-burned corpses from the Varanasi ghats. The programme failed as poachers captured and wiped out the turtle population (again).