India Unveiled is a Sterling Holidays initiative to share untold stories of our nation’s rich culture, heritage and achievements. It was an effort to inspire everyone to explore and discover a lot more about our country. After a month long journey, here we have for you a collection of all 30 India Unveiled stories. Happy Reading. Happy Exploring

1. 30 Days.
30 Stories
Unveiled.

2. A month long journey
towards unveiling India
The India Unveiled campaign is Sterling Holidays’ initiative to unveil one amazing story a day about the
nation’s remarkable diverse culture, geography, history and achievements, amongst other aspects.
We hope you enjoyed the journey towards unveiling India. For your reading pleasure we present here all
30 stories as a collection. We hope we can share a lot more stories like this in the future. In the
meanwhile, go ahead and explore our great country. India beckons!

3. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
2 October
1.8 million words. 10 times the length of Iliad and Odyssey.
#Mahabharata is considered as the world’s longest epic.
#IndiaUnveiled
Sterling Holidays
3 October
The game of #Chess or Chaturanga in Sanskrit has its
beginnings in #India . #IndiaUnveiled
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4. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
4 October
#Sushruta is considered as the Father of Indian Surgery. He was
a pioneer in conducting surgeries relating to facial reconstruction,
cataract, fractures & even caesareans (Image is only indicative).
#IndiaUnveiled
Sterling Holidays
5 October
According to Sanjeev Sanyal, a leading economist & writer, the
name Bharat emerged from an ancient tribe called #Bharatas.
The Rig Veda mentions a ‘Battle of Ten Kings’ that took place
on the banks of River Ravi (Punjab) wherein 10 powerful tribes
waged a war against the Bharatas. The latter won the war due to
the chieftain Sudasa & his Guru #Vashishta’s tactics. The tribe
grew & spread across the country. This led to the kingdom being
known as Bharat Varsha or the Land of Bharatas. This is one of
many theories regarding the origin of the name ‘Bharat’
(Indicative Image). #Indiaunveiled
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5. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
6 October
Sterling Holidays
The science of #navigation originated in India. The world’s
oldest dock was in #Lothal, India. The very word “Navigation”
is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Navgith’ (Indicative Image).
#IndiaUnveiled
7 October
1600 years & the iron has not rusted. This ancient wonder can be
seen at 3 places in India - #Delhi , Dhar and Kodachiri. It is said
that these iron pillars, which are highly resistant to corrosion,
are a testament to the skill of Indian blacksmiths of the #Gupta
period. This formula is unfortunately lost to the world now.
#IndiaUnveiled
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6. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
8 October
Kanada was the first Indian sage & philosopher who propounded
the concept of atom. He called it #“Paramanu” (atom) an
indestructible particle of matter. It is said that he also theorized
gravity long before Newton. #IndiaUnveiled
Sterling Holidays
9 October
It’s said that Baudhayana’s Shulbhsutra is the oldest surviving
text on Mathematics. #Baudhayana calculated the approximate
value of #Pi which can be found in the Shulbhsutra.
#IndiaUnveiled
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7. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
10 October
Between 1500 BCE to 1700 CE India was known as the cradle
of the #cotton industry. Rig Veda refers to cotton as ‘threads in
the loom’. The cotton from India was worn by #Roman Emperors
who fondly referred to it as ‘Woven Winds’. Till the end of the
18th century, India was the only source of cotton fabrics for
the rest of the world. #IndiaUnveiled
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Sterling Holidays
11 October
The historical evidence of #Yoga dates back to 4500 BCE. This
ancient science is now practised globally to maintain physical &
mental well-being. #IndiaUnveiled
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8. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
12 October
According to several experts from Geological Society of India,
#Diamonds were first recognized and mined in #centralIndia
3000 years ago. It is widely believed that up until 17th century
India was the only source of diamonds. #IndiaUnveiled
Sterling Holidays
13 October
Originally called Mokshapat, now a worldwide classic,
#Snakes&Ladders is believed to be created by the 13th
century Indian poet saint #Gyandev. #IndiaUnveiled
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9. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
14 October
Researchers believe that #Gujarat once had the largest
#dinosaur hatcheries in the world. The fossilised eggs here are
said to be amongst the best preserved in the world (Indicative
Image). #IndiaUnveiled
Sterling Holidays
15 October
#Shampoo originated in the eastern regions of the #Mughal
Empire, particularly in Bengal where it was used as a head
massage medicine. The word Shampoo itself originated from
the Hindi word ‘Champo’ (Indicative Image). #IndiaUnveiled
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10. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
17 October
Sterling Holidays
The #Ganges River Dolphin, found in the Ganges & the
#Brahmaputra rivers, is the only blind dolphin in the world
and is India’s National Aquatic Animal (Indicative Image).
#IndiaUnveiled
Forbes magazine, in an article published in July, 1987,
reported that Sanskrit is the most convenient language for
computer software programming. According to a paper published
by Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the
syntax and grammar of Sanskrit makes it a suitable language
for programming (Indicative Image). #IndiaUnveiled
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16 October

11. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
18 October
Sterling Holidays
19 October
Jaswant Singh, a soldier of the Indian Army, single-handedly
held off a Chinese attack, at an altitude of 10,000ft, during the
Sino-Indian war of 1962. After three days of resistance, he was
captured and killed at the spot now known as Jaswantgarh.
To this day, he is treated as if alive; he is promoted regularly,
his boots polished and food delivered every day at the memorial
built for him. #IndiaUnveiled
Noted Herpetologist Frank Wall suggested, in his book Snakes
of #Ceylon, that the name #Anaconda originated from the Tamil
words anai-kondra meaning ‘elephant killer’ in reference to the
killing power of the reptile. Several other English words take their
root from Indian words. A few of the interesting ones are cash,
cheetah, juggernaut, teak, nirvana, vivid and zen. #IndiaUnveiled
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12. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
21 October
Sterling Holidays
20 October
According to legend, the modern city of #Gurgaon once belonged
to #Dronacharya, the teacher who trained the Pandavas in martial
arts. The name Gurgaon literally means the village of the teacher.
#IndiaUnveiled
Indian Physicist and Biologist Jagdish Chandra Bose was one
of the pioneers in radio technology. During the years 1894-1900,
Bose performed research on radio waves and even did a public
demonstration where he ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at
a distance using microwaves. Bose’s work predates that of
Marconi who is most often associated with the development
of radio. #IndiaUnveiled
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13. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
22 October
In the rainforests of Meghalaya, bridges are not built, they’re
grown. Vines and roots of trees grow across streams and rivers
here, providing access to many hundreds living in the forest.
Some of the bridges are several decades old and strong enough
to support the weight of 50 or more people at the same time.
#IndiaUnveiled
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Sterling Holidays
23 October
According to the National Geographic, the Maha Kumbh Mela
is the largest religious gathering in the world. An estimated
30 million people visited the Maha Kumbh Mela held at
Allahabad on 10 February, 2013 alone. #IndiaUnveiled
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14. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
Sterling Holidays
24 October
Jadav “Molai” Payeng began burying seeds, when he was a
teenager, along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in Assam
to grow a refuge for wildlife. The spot today hosts a sprawling
1,360 acre of jungle that Payeng planted single-handedly.
#IndiaUnveiled
25 October
Savitribai Phule was the first female teacher of the first women’s
school in India and is also considered as the pioneer of modern
Marathi poetry. In 1852 she opened a school for Dalit girls in
Pune and went on to open 17 more schools for girls.
#IndiaUnveiled
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15. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
26 October
Sterling Holidays
Kautilya’s Arthashastra describes the sophisticated societies of
ancient India. The traffic rules stated that bullock carts were not
allowed without a driver and that a child could ride a cart only if
he or she was accompanied by an adult. Codes for building
construction, waste disposal and rules against interfering in
neighbours affairs were also in place. It’s surely a legacy which
India’s modern cities should live up to (Indicative Image).
#IndiaUnveiled
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27 October
A poet, author, composer and painter who had a great impact on
Indian and Asian literature, he was the first Non –European to win
the Nobel prize for literature in 1913. Tagore’s compositions were
also chosen by two nations as national anthems: India’s Jana
Gana Mana and Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla.
#IndiaUnveiled
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16. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
Sterling Holidays
28 October
The PARAM 8000, when it was launched in 1991, was the
third supercomputer in the world. India had begun its foray in
supercomputing nearly 25 years ago after the world powers
denied India a supercomputer meant for weather research.
The latest machine in the series is the PARAM Yuva II
(Indicative Image). #IndiaUnveiled
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29 October
A prodigy in Mathematics. Self-taught. He rediscovered known
theorems in addition to producing new work and independently
compiled nearly 3900 results ( identities and equations). Most
of his work has been validated by the Mathematical community
decades later. According to noted English mathematician G. H.
Hardy, Ramanujan is in the same league as mathematicians such
as Euler and Gauss, two of the most influential mathematicians of
all time. #IndiaUnveiled
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17. Highlights
Sterling Holidays
Sterling Holidays
30 October
According to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), the combined
drainage basin of Himalayas is home to some 3 billion people in
18 countries, almost half the world’s population. It is the source of
6 of Asia’s great rivers, including the Yangtze, Indus and Ganges
and home to thousands species of animals and plants.
#IndiaUnveiled
31 October
According to economic historian Angus Maddison, India was the
richest country in the world and had the world’s largest economy
during 1000 BCE and 1 C.E. He also estimates that, India
contributed 33% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
of the economy in 1 C.E which was far more than China and
even the Roman empire during it’s prime. #IndiaUnveiled
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18. India Unveiled is an initiative to share untold, amazing stories about
our incredible nation and inspire everyone to explore its rich heritage,
achievements and potential. The 30 India Unveiled stories are a testament
to the fact that there’s a lot more left for us to discover. We hope to
carry on this journey with the same zeal and share a lot more of
the hidden treasures of our country.

19. About Sterling Holidays
Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited is a pioneer in Vacation Ownership and a leading Leisure Hospitality company
in India. Sterling was incorporated in 1986 with the vision of delivering Great Holiday experiences to Indian Families.
To achieve this vision, the company pioneered Vacation Ownership in India and set about building a network of leisure
resorts at some of the best holiday destinations in India. Currently, Sterling has 19 resorts located in Corbett, Darjeeling,
Dharamshala, Gangtok, Goa, Karwar, Kodaikanal, Lonavala,Manali, Munnar, Mussoorie, Ooty, Puri, Thekkady, Yelagiri
and Yercaud. Our affiliation with Resort Condominium International (RCI) allows our members to holiday at over 4000
resorts worldwide through an exchange facility.
Published in India. October 2013
Copyright © 2013 by Sterling Holidays
All the facts & information provided for India Unveiled
are well researched and have been cross-checked
with several genuine sources.
www.sterlingholidays.com