History

1. The Jodhpur Boom


JODHPUR: A deafening sound heard at 11.25 am in Jodhpur on Monday sent panic waves among the residents. The incident prompted people to enquire from the control room about any explosion. Initially, rumours spread about a "sonic boom" or an ammunition accident in army area but defence personnel denied it. 

On being contacted, defence spokesperson Col SD Goswami, refused any such explosion in army area. As far as Air Force is concerned, they are trying to ascertain the facts with regard to a sonic boom, he said. 

2. The Nine Unknown Men



This tradition goes back to the time of Emperor Asoka, who reigned in India from 273 B.C. He was the grandson of Chandragupta who was the first to unify India. Ambitious like his ancestor whose achievements he was anxious to complete, he conquered the region of Kalinga which lay between what is now Calcutta and Madras. The Kalingans resisted and lost 100,000 men in the battle.


3. Mysterious Luminescent Lights of Bay of Bengal




by Calvin Frazer

ON DECEMBER 28, 1929, the British steamship Talma was off the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal, en route from Calcutta to the Far East. The weather was calm and clear. Toward seven in the evening an extraordinary display of luminosity was seen in the surrounding sea.

“At first,” says the captain’s report, “what appeared like small globules of phosphorescence rising from below and breaking at the surface were observed. Later these assumed an appearance almost like flashes of lightning under the water, which rapidly formed into regular beams, curved as the curved spokes of a wheel might be, and of a width at the ship of about 30 feet.

“These revolved rapidly from right to left at the rate of two a second—timed as the beams passed the bridge—around a distant center, which could not actually be seen clearly but appeared to be about five miles off.


4. The 1600 Years Old Rust Free Iron Pillar Of Delhi



The Delhi iron pillar is testimony to the high level of skill achieved by ancient Indian iron smiths in the extraction and processing of iron. The iron pillar at Delhi has attracted the attention of archaeologists and corrosion technologists as it has withstood corrosion for the last 1600 years. The several theories which have been proposed to explain its superior corrosion resistance can be broadly classified into two categories: the environmental and the material theories. Proponents of the environmental theories state that the mild climate of Delhi is responsible for the corrosion resistance of the Delhi iron pillar. It is known that the relative humidity at Delhi does not exceed 70% for significant periods of time in the year, which therefore results in very mild corrosion of the pillar.

5. An Indian Made The World’s First Air Plane 8 Years Before The Wright Brothers



The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, are acknowledged to have invented and built the world’s first successful airplane and made the first controlled, powered and sustained flight in 1903.

However, in 1895, an Indian, Shivkar Talpade, a drawing teacher from JJ School of Art in Mumbai, is said to have flown an aircraft, Marutsakha, on Girgaon Chowpatty.

Talpade is said to have relied on an ancient text to build his model aircraft. Now, throwing light on the text is a book that will be out later this year, by GaneshNerlekar-Desai, epigraphist and manuscriptologist at Shivaji University’s Manuscript Research Centre at Kolhapur.


6. The Immortal Beings Of The Himalayas


This is an incident of 1942 when the king of Kumaon invited an army officer of Western Command, LP. Farrel for a picnic trip to the hills. There was a special reason for inviting Mr. Farrel; in spite of his being a Britisher he was very much interested in Indian religion, philosophy and culture. He had a few opportunities of witnessing demonstration of miraculous feats of some Indian yogis. He had become a pure vegetarian. That is why he always welcomed any opportunity to go towards the Himalayan wilderness, with the hope of meeting some saint or yogi who could initiate him into spiritual sadhana. 

7. The Great Taj Mahal Conspiracy



Taj Mahal is without question the most famous—and possibly the most beautiful—building in India. Considered one of the modern wonders of the world, this ornate white marble building was created by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum to his deceased wife. Or was it?

8. The Haunted city of Bhangarh




Bhangarh, a deserted town in Rajasthan, was established in 1613 by King Madho Singh, son of great Mughal general, Man Singh of Amber. Bhangarh was abandoned soon after being built and supposedly after it was cursed by a magician. In ignorance Ajab Singh, the grandson of Madho Singh, raised the palace to such a height that the shadow reached the forbidden place. Local residents say, it was then that the devastation of entire town of Bhangarh took place. 

9. Floating Stones of Ram Setu Bridge at Rameswaram



It is mentioned in the epic Ramayana that Ram Setu was built by the son of Lord Vishwakarma when Lord Rama needed to cross the sea to reach Lanka. The bridge known as Adam's Bridge is said to be built of floating stones. The epic mentions that whenever the name of Lord Rama was written over any stone, it started to float in the sea water.

Some such stones are said to be scattered at Rameswaram during the Tsunami and one of them was brought to Patna to prove the evidence of Rama and the bridge. 

10. Lonar Crater Lake, Maharashtra



There is a mystery associated with the lake flowing inside the crater, nobody can say how it remains full through the year, a stream feeds this crater but up to this date no outlet was found. The other puzzle is that lake has two distinct regions that never mix, an outer neutral and an inner alkaline region. Both support different flora and fauna. The trek down the lake is really difficult to negotiate and it is always advisable to be cautious before you step because there may be a snake. The uneven surface and the dangerously wet surface of the lake's shore makes the walking quite challenging - a good treat for a trekking expedition.

11. Great Wall of India – Kumbhalgarh Fort




Kumbhalgarh Fort is the second most important fort of Rajasthan after Chittorgarh, located at a distance of 64 kms from Udaipur in Rajasmand district. The fort extend to the length of 36 kilometers and this fact has made this fort to be in the international records. It is the second longest wall in the world, the first being ”the Great Wall of China”.

12. Indus Valley Civilization of Harappa



The earliest traces of civilization in the Indian subcontinent are to be found in places along, or close, to the Indus river. Excavations first conducted in 1921-22, in the ancient cities of Harappa andMohenjodaro, both now in Pakistan, pointed to a highly complex civilization that first developed some 4,500-5,000 years ago, and subsequent archaeological and historical research has now furnished us with a more detailed picture of the Indus Valley Civilization and its inhabitants. The Indus Valley people were most likely Dravidians, who may have been pushed down into south India when the Aryans, with their more advanced military technology, commenced their migrations to India around 2,000 BCE. Though the Indus Valley script remains undeciphered down to the present day, the numerous seals discovered during the excavations, as well as statuary and pottery, not to mention the ruins of numerous Indus Valley cities, have enabled scholars to construct a reasonably plausible account of the Indus Valley Civilization.