20 Unusual Things That Can Only Be Seen In India

India is not just a country with 330 million gods. In the country, you can bet on bullfights or walk like Tarzan across bridges with living roots. The place has a lot to offer tourists, and here are the facts to prove it.

O awesome.club wants to show you that India still hides many secrets that you didn’t know.

In India, the term Hijra is used to refer to anyone who considers themselves transgender or transsexual. According to kama-sutra, the history of hijras in the Indian subcontinent dates back to ancient times. In April 2014, the Supreme Court of India recognized trans people as a “third sex” in a special law, which is reflected in their passports and other official documents.

The Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage that repeats itself every 12 years and the largest human gathering in the world that can even be seen from space. This year, it was held in the city of Allahabad, from January 15th to March 4th, and an estimated 130 million people participated.

The Sushruta Samhita is an ancient Sanskrit medical text considered to be one of the earliest and most important writings related to the detailed study of medicine and surgery. It was developed by Sushruta and dated to around the 6th century BC Modern plastic surgery seems to have originated from this text, which describes the procedure for reconstructing the lips and nose using a piece of skin from the cheeks.

The Touro surfe is a sport race held in the village of Anandapally, in the south of the state of Kerala, during the post-harvest season. A pair of bulls have to plow a paddy field the size of a flooded football field, and the water is ankle-deep as workers surf behind them on a wooden plank holding the animals’ tails or their harnesses.

In India, post offices can be really different from what we are used to. As a floating agency built on top of a houseboat or the tallest in the world, located at 4,725 meters above sea level in the state of Himachal Pradesh. In the 1970s, some cities in the state of Rajasthan had mobile post offices even on camels, while mules were used in the hilly areas of Darjeeling county in the state of Bengal.

India is home to some of the rarest and most unique species that can be found in Asia. Among them are the Asiatic lion, in danger of extinction, and the purple frog.

India is among the biggest consumers of gold in the world. Over the past 10 years, the country’s demand has reached an average of 838 tons per year. In 2018, 760.4 tons of the metal were consumed, most of it used to make jewelry for weddings and festivals.

The bridges in the state of Meghalaya, the rainiest in the world, are made entirely of roots to prevent them from rotting due to humidity. The construction process for these structures takes years, but those made this way are much stronger than wooden ones.

The Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala’s state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, is not only the richest Hindu temple in the world, it is also the most valuable place of worship that ever existed. In 2011, the archeology department opened the site’s secret compartments to inspect the items stored inside and found gold, silver and gemstones worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Only after marriage can women wear its 16 ornaments, called Sola Shringar. Among these are the bindithe colored dot in the center of the forehead, and the Nathor the nose ring.

In India, about 80% of the population is Hindu. The religion has 330 million deities, some of them unknown to the Hindus themselves – however they are equally venerated, despite not knowing their names. The most revered are the Trimurti, better known as the Hindu Trinity: Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Among these gods, everyone has exactly the same level of importance.

Prahlad Jani is an Indian monk who claims he hasn’t eaten or drunk since the 1940s. He says the goddess Amba keeps him alive. Two observational studies of Jani were conducted, one in 2003 and another in 2010. In both, researchers confirmed Jani’s ability to survive without food or water during the experimental periods, although the research was not published by any scientific journal.

India holds the record for having the tallest statue in the world, known as the “Statue of Unity” at 182 meters tall. It represents the leader of the Indian independence movement Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, popularly known as Sardar Patel.

Magnetic Mountain is a gravity mountain located near the city of Leh in the Ladakh region. In fact, it has caused Indian Air Force planes in the past to deviate their course to avoid magnetic interference. The objects and cars on it can appear to go uphill, defying gravity, when they are actually going downhill, as the mountain road is actually downhill.

The Nine Unknowns are a secret society founded by Emperor Ashoka, around 270 BC. C., to preserve and develop knowledge that could be dangerous for humanity if it fell into the wrong hands. Each of the 9 is supposedly responsible for protecting and improving a single book. Each book, in turn, is dedicated to a different branch of potentially dangerous knowledge.

Bollywood is the Indian film industry in Hindi based in Mumbai which produced 1813 films in 2018 alone. In 2012 it far surpassed the amount of Hollywood productions. The term “Bollywood” derives from the fusion of two famous city names, Bombay (another name by which Mumbai is called) and Hollywood.

In the Zoroastrian religion, Earth and Fire are considered sacred. For this reason, the Dakhma, also called the Tower of Silence, was built. It is an elevated, circular structure built for corpses to be exposed to carnivorous birds, usually vultures. Although they are also present in Iran, the towers of silence are only used in India.

In India, it is common to see men holding hands in the streets. In some countries this can be seen as a sign of specific sexual orientation, but in India it’s just a display of affection between two true friends. However, it is very rare to see signs of affection between a man and a woman, and kissing in public is prohibited.

In the state of Tamil Nadu, the wedding ring is placed on the index toe. The two silver rings, put on by the groom on the second finger of his beloved, according to beliefs, contribute to a healthy pregnancy. In this case, gold rings should be avoided, since gold for Hindus is the symbol of the goddess of abundance: Lakshmi. Putting it on the feet, which is considered the most humble part of the body, can be considered an insult.

Have you ever traveled to India? How many of these facts did you know? We look forward to your comments!