 National
Flag
The Indian flag was
designed as a symbol of freedom. The late Prime Minister, Jawaharlal
Nehru called it a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol
of freedom to all people. The flag has three colors. The colors are:
deep saffron on the top, which represent Patriotism, Courage, Sacrifice
and the Spirit of renunciatio; white in the middle, which represents
Peace, Purity and Truth; green at the bottom represents Prosperity,
Faith and Fertility. In the center of the white band, there is a wheel
with 24 spokes in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra. It represents
the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital.
 National
Anthem
Jana Gana Mana, the
Indian National Anthem was composed by Sir Rabindranath Tagore
(1861-1941), a prominent Indian writer and philosopher who drew on
Indian classical literature to compose more than one hundred books,
dramas, stories, and poems. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913
for poems in Gitanjali, and was knighted in 1915. Jana Gana Mana was
adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on January 26, 1950 and
first sung on December 27,1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian
National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas lasting
approximately fifty-two seconds. Rabindranath Tagore's English anthem
and translation of reads...
JANA-GANA-MANA-ADHINAYAKA, JAYA HE BHARATA-BHAGYA-VIDHATA PUNJAB-SINDHU-GUJARATA-MARATHA-
DRAVIDA-UTKALA-BANGA VINDHYA-HIMACHALA-YAMUNA-GANGA UCCHHALA-JALADHI
TARANGA TAVA SUBHA NAME JAGE TAVA SUBHA ASHISHA MAGE GAHE TAVA JAYA
GATHA. JANA-GANA-MANGALA DAYAKA, JAYA HE BHARATA-BHAGYA-VIDHATA, JAYA
HE, JAYA HE, JAYA HE, JAYA JAYA JAYA, JAYA HE
Translation:
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India's
destiny. The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and
Maratha, of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal; it echoes in the hills of
the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of the Yamuna and Ganga
and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for thy
blessings and sing thy praise. The salvation of all people is in thy
hand, thou dispenser of India's destiny. Victory, victory, victory to
thee.
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 National
Emblem
The National
Emblem of India is a replica of the Lion of Sarnath, near Varanasi in
Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital was erected in the third century BC by
Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where Buddha first proclaimed his gospel
of peace and emancipation to the four quarters of the universe. The
National Emblem is thus symbolic of contemporary India's reaffirmation
of its ancient commitment to world peace.
The four lions (one hidden from view) - symbolising
power, courage and confidence - rest on a circular abacus. The abacus is
girded by four smaller animals - guardians of the four directions: the
lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and
the bull of the west.The abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom,
exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. The
motto 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the emblem in Devanagari script
means 'truth alone triumphs'.
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 National
Bird
The peacock is
India's National Bird. The scientific name of this bird is "Pava
Cristatus (linnaeus)." The peacock is a colorful, swan-sized bird with a
fan-shaped crest of feathers on its head, a white patch under the eye
and a long slender neck. The male of the species is more colorful than
the female with glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular
bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is
brownish, slightly smaller than the male and it lacks the train. The
elaborate courtship dance of the male by fanning out the tail and
quivering the feathers is a gorgeous sight.
The peacock is widely found in the Indian sub-continent
from the south and east of the Indus river, Jammu and Kashmir, east to
Assam, south to Mizoram and the whole of the Indian penninsula.
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 National
Animal
The National
Animal of India is the magnificent creature called the Bengal Tiger. The
scientific name of the Bengal Tiger is "Tiger Panthera tigris". This
tiger is a rich-coloured well-striped animal with a short coat. The
combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned
the tiger great respect and high esteem. It is found throughout the
country except the north-western region, and also in the neighbouring
countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The tiger occupies a
variety of habitats from dry open jungles, humid ever-green forests to
mangrove swamps.
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Flower
The Lotus or waterlily
is an aquatic plant of Nymphaea with broad floating leaves and bright
fragrant flowers that grow only in shallow waters. The leaves and
flowers float and have long stems that contain air spaces. Lotus is the
National Flower of India. It occupies a significant place in Indian
mythology. It is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. It
symbolizes purity, beauty and everything that is good. The lotus is
generally found in white or pink colors, but blue flowers are also not
unknown. The lotus is sacred for the Buddhists according to Buddhist
legends.
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Tree
The Indian fig
tree, Ficus bengalensis, whose branches root themselves like new trees
over a largearea. The roots then give rise to more trunks and branches.
Because of this characteristic and its longevity, this tree is
considered immortal and is an integral part of the myths and legends
ofIndia. Even today, the banyan tree is the focal point of village life
and the village council meets under the shade of this tree.
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Fruit
A fleshy fruit,
eaten ripe or used green for pickles etc., of the tree Mangifera indica,
the mango is one of the most important and widely cultivated fruits of
the tropical world. Its juicy fruit is a rich source of Vitamins A, C
and D. In India there are over100 varieties of mangoes, in different
sizes, shapes and colours. Mangoes, have been cultivated in India from
time immemorial. The poet Kalidasa sang its praises. Alexander savoured
its taste, as did the Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang. Akbar planted 100,000
mango trees in Darbhanga, known as Lakhi Bagh.
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