India has a long history to tell about itself since independent till now. On the occasion of India's 69th Independence Day, here are some interesting and unknown facts related to India and independence.
National flag was hoisted first on August 7, 1906 at the Parsee Bagan Square in Calcutta. The flag was composed of horizontal strips of red, yellow and green. The red strip at the top had eight white lotuses embossed on it in a row. The green strip had a white sun on the left and a white crescent and star on the right.
The name `India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the first inhabitants of India. The Sanskrit name for India is Bharat Ganarajya. That is the reason why it is also called Bharat. The name “India” comes from the Indus River, which is where earliest settlers made their homes.
The current flag has three colours in it. The top strip saffron stands for courage and sacrifice; the middle portion white for peace, truth, purity and green for faith, fertility and chivalry. The Ashok Chakra at the centre of the flag — righteousness.
India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
It is said that the first version of the current national flag was made by Pingali Venkayya at Bezwada in 1921. It was made up of two colours-red and green-representing the two major communities. Gandhiji suggested the addition of a white strip to represent the remaining communities of India and the spinning wheel to symbolize progress of the Nation.
The current flag has three colours in it. The top strip saffron stands for courage and sacrifice; the middle portion white for peace, truth, purity and green for faith, fertility and chivalry. The Ashok Chakra at the centre of the flag — righteousness.
When India became independent on August 15, 1947 there was no National Anthem. Even though the Bengali invocation of Jana Gana Mana was written in 1911, it was not considered as national anthem till 1950.
Controversy surrounding Jana Gana Mana claims that Rabindranath Tagore wrote the song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ for the British monarch. He later refuted this claim and said that he wrote the song as requested by his friend and the song pronounced the victory in ‘Jana Gana Mana’ of that Bhagya Vidhata of India and not of King George V.
On August 15, 1947, when India became free from the foreign rule, Mahatma Gandhi was in Calcutta. Gandhiji spent his day in prayers, fasting and spinning protesting the madness of communal hatred.
Hindi is not India’s national language as many think or believe; it’s the official language. Article 343 of the Constitution states that Hindi in Devnagari script is the official language of India. But Hindi is the first official language of India and Hindi was declared the Official Language of the Union on September 14, 1949.
Interestingly, Gandhiji wanted the Congress to be disbanded immediately after the independence. This resolution for Congress, drafted by Gandhiji on the eve of his assassination, said, “India having attained political independence through means devised by the INC, the Congress in its present shape and form, i.e., as a propaganda vehicle and parliamentary machine had outlived its use.”
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