Indian Culture for kids and parents

Sample Test Questions - Final Exam samples

2006-05-28T15:56:00.000-04:00

India Mountains, Rivers and Facts

1. Names 3 rivers of India
2. ________ and __________ are two mountains of India
3. The nationa anthem of India is
a) Vande Mataram b) Jana Gana Mana c)Sare Jagan Se Accha
4. The national animal of India is _________
5. The national flag of India has (what ______) colors, what do they stand for?
6. The national bird of India is __________
7. The national emblem of India is __________

India Foods and Dress
Name 3 dresses of India
Name 3 foods of India

Indian Artists

Latha Mangeshwar is a famous __________ (singer)
Who won the Bharat Ratna for music for the first time in India (M.S Subbulakshmi)
__________ is a famous Kathak artist. (Biju Maharaj)
Name the two type of classical Indian music (Carnatic and Hindustani)
Name a dance of India (Kathak, Bharatanatyam)
Rukmani Devi was famous because _________ (dancer)
____________ was the first Asian to recieve the Nobel Prize. He got it for ________. (literature for his work gitanjali)
S.P.Balasubramaniam has sung songs in ___languages (8) , Names 3 of them
Which India artist in in the Guiness book of world records _____________
Name a famous painter of India _____ (Raja Ravi Varma)

Wildlife and Santuaries - refer to sample questions here

Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu

Who was the first Governor of free India? (Sarojini Naidu)

Mahatma means ____________
Who is the father of the Nation for India?
People of India call Gandhiji ________ meaning "Great Soul".
The full name of Gandhi was ______________.
Dandi March is famous because _________(All India demonstrated by peacfully and succeeded)
Dandi March was started on _________, revolted against tax against _____ (salt)

Shishubharati Culture II grade Final exam

2006-05-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

Culture Final Exams are on June 11th. The syllabus is as follows:

India Map, Oceans and Rivers - we covered this in homework. I will grade that, so if your child did not give me a map of India showing mountains and rivers of India please submit it ASAP. I shall ask some river and mountains names also in the exam, no map for exam.

India facts - national animal, bird, anthem, emblem, flag colors.

Foods of India
Dress of India

These two topics were covered in the last two weeks, you should have received a handout.
I shall ask list of dress names and food names, not specific ones.

Artists of India
We covered an amazing number of artists in class. I will grade the charts done by the child. I shall also ask some artists names and what they are famous for.

Indian Heros - Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu

The handout I gave are at http://indiafromsu.blogspot.com/?Shishubharati%20Culture%20II
Will ask about Gandhi (like he was called father of the nation, Mahatma, satyagraha/non-violence struggle and dandi march only) and Sarojini Naidu.

Wildlife and Conservation
The focus is on tiger and why are they endangered.
The handout I gave is on this blog at http://indiafromsu.blogspot.com/2005/05/wildlife-and-conservation-national_13.html
We also covered a list of santuaries of India. I shall revise this back next class.
The handout about this topic is here at http://indiafromsu.blogspot.com/2005/05/wildlife-and-conservation-wildflife.html
I shall just ask names of 2 wildlife santuaries. No need to learn the whole details and all the names.

I shall get a sample question paper on this blog under "Sample Test Questions". No need to worry about the quiz links, thats not for this II grade level.

Feel free to contact me with questions.

Indian Food - Jaggery- the medicinal sugar --rich in minerals vitamins

2006-04-13T23:28:00.000-04:00

Jaggery- the medicinal sugar --rich in minerals vitamins: "vitamins inherently present in sugarcane juice & this crowns it as one of the most wholesome and healthy sugars in the world. It Mexico & South America, it is also known as panela. "

Shishubharati Culture II - Indian Heros and Heroines

2006-03-26T09:42:00.000-05:00

Indian Freedom fighters:
Sarojini Naidu
Mahatma Gandhi - Dandi March

Second Grade Culture Class

2006-01-07T17:52:00.000-05:00

Hi Parents,

Here I have linked to all pages relevent to II grade class at my class in Shishubharati. All these pages are in this same blog.

India Facts - National Animal, Bird, Animal, Flower

Mahabharat Bhisma and Karna Stories and knowing who are the basic characters

Indian Family Values - Respecting elders, parents, teachers, keeping a promise (refer to Karna and Bhisma story on how they kept their words)
Indian Community Values - Helping neighbours, having fun with neighbours, playing with all people (diversity), Indian Festivals are social events to promote community values throughout India - Rakhi, Diwali, Pongal, Durga Puja, Ganapathy Puja etc.

States of India

Rivers of India - learn the famous rivers -cauvery, krishna, narmada, godavari, ganga, yamuna, Bhramaputra, Indus

Indian Heros and Heroines - Freedom Fighters Dr Annie Besant

2006-01-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

We read about Indian Freedom Movement and the story of Gandhi. Its amazing how some leaders we do not know much in history awoke people of Indian from 200 years of slavery to the British to even desire to be free.

Some of these people were before Gandhi, some did not follow Gandhi in his Satyagraha as it seemed too good to be true to be able to fight the British army with non-violence.

One such person is Dr.Annie Besant, a foreigner who adpater India as homeland and worked for 40 years dedicating her life to set the stage for Indian Independence.

I was blessed to study at the Besant Theosophical Society School in Chennai in the Kalashetra Campus and learnt about Dr.Annie Besant in good light.

Here is good summary of her bio

Thinkquest has a nice summary of severa freedom fighters including Dr Annie Besant.

It has also links to famous Indian rulers too.

Mythology - More Famous Stories of India that Indian Culturally Know

2005-11-25T01:02:00.000-05:00

Animals and their Hindu Mythology stories
Indians loved and co-existed with animals and worshippd. There are several Hindu Gods and most Gods had an animal as his or her vehicle.

A decent list of "Vahan" or Animal Vehicles from Kamat potpourri
Animal Gods - Elephant God Ganesh, Snake God Naga and their world stories

Mythology - Famous Stories of India that Indian Culturally Know

2005-11-24T23:03:00.000-05:00

My friend Sue Wood asked me what some of the famous stories that all Indians generally know.

It started me thinking, and given the inherent diversity of India, the list meanders from person to person based on what region, language, they come from.

Here is my attempt to collect the most famous Indian stories Indians just know.

Broadly, I see some from Hindu mythology, Epics, literature of different languages and regional stories of all times, which India with its 5000 year old culture seems to have a knack to pass across generations.

Thinking back, I am amazed as Hindu mythology stories were not taught at school as Indian schools are very very particular about being secular.

I had made a basic list in an earlier posting. Here is my broad list. I shall add more as I remember, or find more stories.

Epics
-Ramayana - some call it religious, others do not
-Mahabharat - the longest written poetry in any language ever
-Bhagvat Gita - offshoot of Mahabharat, most people know the summary, called "Gita Saram". This can be found in almost any home, in calendars and is instilled deep in the Indian psyche "Do your duty, do not think about rewards" leading to Karma. Do good and good will happen to you in the long run(including several rebirths), you cannot control the outcome of what will happen now.

Stories from Literature
These came from sanskrit (or some regional) literature but has become common acros india. Most of us hear nuances and references in Movies, plays and songs. Most regions of India have plays of the famous literature works thats replayed for each generation (I shall compare it to Shakespears works, but I learnt Shakespear officially in school in India)

1. Shakuntala - written by the famous Hindi language poet Kalidas (my favorite story ever :-))
2. Kannagi and Kovalan - Tamil language story from "Silapadhikaram" written by Illangovaligal in 2AD.
My summary - Kovalan went to Madurai town with his wife Kannagi to look for a job. He took bracelet of Kannagi to sell and was mistaken that he stole the bracelet of the Pandya queen and sentenced to death. The story is about the wrath of kannagi as she proves her husband was innocent and tells the king about how the ruler should stay balanced or dharma or righeousness will perish and she sets fire to Madhurai (famous city of tamil literature) with her anger.
3. Devadas - Repeated as movies, amazing love story of Paaru and Devadas who misses her and drinks his life away. Always Devadas is referred as a hero mourning his lost love. See recent Hindi movie Devadas by Aiswarya Rai(2002)
4. Salim and Anarkali - Love story from the time of the Mughal king Akbar . See a slightly modified version where Anarkali does not die at Mughal-e-Azam

Legends from History
These vary across the regions.
Shivaji - From Maharastra - there are several stories of how he fought the last of the Mughal Aurangazeb, famous all over India.

India Map - Class Resources for Students

2005-11-19T17:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to mapsofindia.com for the Political Map showing states http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/india-political-map.htm

Indian Custom and Beliefs - Hindu Customs Meanings

2005-10-16T01:09:00.000-04:00

Its so hard to differentiate Hindu Customs from Indian Customs. This book Hindu Customs and Beliefs gives a lot of Indian customs and also reasons for some hindu festivals. I particularly like the reasons associated with Indian herbs like Haldi (Manjal) and Tulasi as their scientific basis is being proven today.

Write to me about meaningo of other Indian customs of all religions and regions as this section will not be complete as India is too diverse and segmented and customs and traditions come because of religion, region, caste, family practise etc.

Indian Languages - Sindhi Proverbs

2005-10-16T00:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Shakun Narain Kimatrai for her book, The Wisdom of Sind and posting it online too.

Nice introduction to Sindhi culture sets the stage to understand the proverbs. Then the proverbs are listed with their meaning.

Epics Ramayan - Symbolisms in Ramayan

2005-10-16T00:44:00.000-04:00

As a kid I have wondered about Lakshman and Urmila lives and was it right to allow them to do what they did all their life for Ram. Ram is glorified as the hero, but would anyone want to be Lakshman or Bharat in todays life. It bothered me that it discredits the immense loyalty Lakshmanan potrays by his life.

Shakun Narain Kimatrai of Dalsubzi offers a unique presentation of Ramayan, kid friendly offering the symbolism behing the characters of the story.

This presents the Ramayan stories and what each character stands for, thanks, its great and answers my questions.

India Vision 2020 - Innovation

2005-09-29T00:33:00.000-04:00

We keep hearing about the innovative ideas of smart individuals - Indians abroad.

Since 70 percent of India is made of villages, India cannot become a developed country without getting the farmers out towards development.

Shristi is an amazing organization, I wish them good luck.

Wildlife and Conservation - Elephants of Kerala

2005-09-22T18:08:00.000-04:00

Wildlife and Conservation – Elephants of Kerala

Cool pictures of Elephants. I miss how we could see Elephants visit us at home in India.
I searched in Chennai and Mumbai and could not see a single Elephant.

If you know of a place in India where you still see elephants visiting homes, let me know please. Thanks.

Wildlife and Conservation - Biodiversity Butterflies of Kerala

2005-09-22T16:24:00.000-04:00

Wildlife and Conservation – Butterflies of Kerala

India has amazing biodiversity. Beautiful Kerala has 330 species of butterflies.
This is a commercial site offerin tours of such sites in Kerala, but I like their summary of types of butterflies and their pictures are beautiful.

Indian Arts - Timeless Theater Art Archive

2005-09-22T15:04:00.000-04:00

Indian history (before the British invasion), shows a story of daily life interwoven with art.

I just want to share Kamat Potpourri site specifically his Timless Theater Art Archive. Its an amazing painstaking collection of several years showcasing hundreds of years work. Its a good place to start to understand Indias Art history.
Thanks to the Kamat Family.

Vedic Math - New Book The Origins of Mathematics

2005-09-10T15:54:00.000-04:00

This is a book published in Feb 04. Look for a nice review here

India Vision 2020 - Sites

2005-08-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

By popular demand I have decide to include this section called "India Vision 2020". This is the vision of the President of India Dr.Kalam that India will become a developed country by 2020.

Here I plan to share relevant topics and sites that will help us understand the growing trends and achievements of India as it grows in this path.

You can find information about the Indian Economy and financial research data about india from
Ihttp://www.indiainfoline.com/econ/

Wildlife and Conservation - National parks and Santuaries

2005-07-19T12:45:00.000-04:00

I recently found this site http://www.indian-wildlife.com/ lists all wildlife santuaries and offers tours for NRI.

Asian Indians in US Statistics

2005-07-17T17:13:00.000-04:00

As of the latest stats from local (US) Indian magazines, there are 2.3 millions Indians in US. I find mixed numbers on their breakup.

Each story that gives the stats of breakup of Indian population comes when a particular category/profession of Indian achieve something. Here, I am going to collect such stats offering article. Please post a comment if you have any more such article. Thanks.

According to Little India, there are 20,000 doctors in US, 150-200K software engineers and 8000 motel owners. The Association of Physicians from India (AAPI) has 35000 doctors and 10,000 interns.

The following article from India Tribute shows that the motel owners, along with gas station owners and Indian store owners have formed an association called Asian American Convenience Stores Association (AACSA), which is 80,000 strong and represents 60% of retailers in US and a buying power of $80Billion.

Epics Mahabharat - Karna story for very young kids

2005-06-12T23:04:00.000-04:00

Karna Story Summary from Mahabharat for young kids by Sudha Jamthe

Karna was the son of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas. Kunti got a boon by which she could invoke a God and have his baby. She tried this out before marriage and got Karna from sun God. Since she was unmarried, she left the baby in a basket in the river. A charioter and his wife Radha found and raised the baby as their own. So Karna, though a Kshatriya(K is silent in prononciation) or a warrior by birth grew up as a sutra as low-caste person.

Karna was great in Archery and was better than Arjuna.

Drona was the teacher (guru) of the Pandavas. When he tested their learning at their graduation, Karna challenged Arjuna. Duruyodana , the kaurava who hated the Pandavas was rejoiced at this. Drona said Karna could not fight Arjuna as he was not a warrior or a king. So Duruyodana gave Karna the kingdom of Anga and made him a king.

This made Karna a loyal friend of the Kauravas and he stayed and fought on their side and died for them in the great Mahabharat war.

Kunti, the real mother of Karna, told him the truth of his birth before the war and asked him not to fight his brothers the Pandavas. Karna said his loyalty was with Duruyodhana so he will fight only for the Kauravas. However he promised that he would not kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna whom he hated. He kept his promise till the end and died for the Kauravas.

Karna is very respected for his excellence in archery, his loyalty to Duruyodhana and his honor in keeping his promise and his great generous behaviour.

Epics Mahabharat - Bhisma story for very young kids

2005-06-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Bhisma Story Summary from Mahabharat for young kids by Sudha Jamthe

Bhisma was the son of Shantanu and the river Goddess Ganga. His birth name was Devratta. Ganga leves Santanu when he questions her for killing her seven sons as soon as each is born. She explains that they were Vasus who took birth on earth and wanted to die to return to heaven soon. Then she leaves for heaven herself.

Shantanu wants to marry Satayvati, the daughter of a fisherman when Bhisma was a young man. Her father wants only her kids to become king of Hastinapur.

Bhisma agrees and takes an vow to
(i) to renounce his throne
(ii) not ever marry and have children so they would not contest for the throne later
(iii) be loyal to whoever becomes the king of Hastinapur.

So he gets the name Bhisma, the one who follows a difficult vow.

Bhisma grew to a very old age and was known for his honor and truthfulness.
He supported the Kauravas though they were the bad guys because of his oath to be loyal to the king of Hastinapur till the end.

India Facts - Quiz

2005-06-09T11:57:00.000-04:00

Here is an interesting series of quiz from Indiavilas. It contains a lot of Indian and some general world facts mixed in the quiz, which may make it easy for the US kids to try out.

Here we go!

Indian Heros and Heroines - Architects of Free India

2005-06-07T12:34:00.000-04:00

Getting Independence is the first step. Building out the county so that we cab sustain our democracy for future generation of free people was done by the architects of the country in all fields.

I admire them all - scientists and visionaries who build out various areas of science and technology to get India to where we are headed today, architects of our constitution and presidents, statesmen and lots more.

Venkata Raman
Har Gobind Khorana
K R Narayanan
A P J Abdul Kalam - current President of India and visionary behind India 2020 to make India a developed country by 2020.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Dr Rajendra Prasad
Dr. S Radhakrishnan - we celebrate Teachers day on Sep 5th on his birthday.
Homi Jehangir Bhabha
Prasanth Chandra Mahalanobis - statistician and founder of the Indian Statistical Institute.

Bridging India and US - Cummunity Organizations

2005-06-07T10:56:00.000-04:00

US is very good for the support infrastructure of community activities for kids growth and extra-curricular activities.

Indians abroad have taken that learning and built organizations that bridge the gap between India and US and help bring out the best in our kids.

North South Foundation, chicago based but with chapters all over India and US helps Indian kids win the National Spelling Bee Competition and also help needy kids in India get a college education.

Mythology - Krishna Story

2005-06-07T01:46:00.000-04:00

This is the story of Lord Krishna. There are several version of this, kindly posted by many folks.

I like Shantanu Shahs detailed stories (thanks)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Raas Lila with Gopis and Radha

Epics Ramayan - full story for the whole family

2005-06-07T01:41:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Shantanu Shah of Neo Vedanta for the detailed full story of Ramayan.

Part 1 Story of Child Shravan
Part 2 Childhood of Rama
Part 3 Marriage with Sita
Part 4 Rama to Become The King
Part 5 Mother Kaikeyi Objects
Part 6 Rama Banished to Forest
Part 7 Story of Bharata
Part 8 Bharata Persuades Rama
Part 9 Life in Forest
Part 10 King Ravana of Lanka
Part 11 Ravana Abducts Sita
Part 12 Story of Shabari
Part 13 Rama Meets Hanuman
Part 14 Story of Sugreeva and Vali
Part 15 In Search Of Sita
Part 16 Hanuman Reaches Lanka
Part 17 Hanuman Meets Sita
Part 18 Hanuman Plays Havoc
Part 19 Invasion of Lanka
Part 20 Story of Kumbhakarna
Part 21 Laxmana Faints
Part 22 Indrajeet Dies
Part 23 End of Ravana
Part 24 "Fire Test of Sita"
Part 25 Rama Praises His Devotees
Part 26 Return to Ayodhya
Part 27 Story Concludes

Epics and Mythology - Bhagavat Gita

2005-06-07T01:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Neovedanta Shantanu Shah for his effort (and copyright work) in making Gita accessible to all of us.

Amazing work of full Gita

Mythology - Jataka Tales

2005-06-07T01:24:00.000-04:00

Jataka tales were created by Buddists with some avatar of Buddha taking a form of an animal in each story and offering a good moral. It got translated outside India many times and the recent versions we see today are translations which have been modified by several cultures.

Thanks to Srinivasp for the following Jataka tales.

The Jackal who saved the lion
The greedy crow
The doe which set her husband free

Epics Ramayan - more sources

2005-06-07T01:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks to India Nest and Dr. CS Shah (his copyrights too) for
the Ramayan listed as several stories, easy to follow.

Mythology - Panchatantra

2005-06-06T23:55:00.000-04:00

http://members.tripod.com/~srinivasp/mythology/panchatantra.html

Literature - Thirukural

2005-06-05T19:40:00.000-04:00

Thirukural is the most translated book, maybe next to the bible, into most world languages.

It is a collection of 1330 two-liners with deep meaning which applies to all situations and all times offering philosophical and practical solutions to all life areas.

You can see the original Tamil script as images here or read an English Translation here.

You can see Kalizhar Karunanadhis Tamil version from the DMK site here

Literature - Kabir

2005-06-05T19:29:00.000-04:00

Kabir was a great Hindi Poet, famous for his dhohas.

Check this site to read about Kabir and a beautiful list of all his dhohas and other poetry in Hindi and their meaning in English.

Sample Test Questions - Wildlife

2005-06-05T18:11:00.000-04:00

What is the National Animal of India?
What species of Tiger is found only in India and some neighbouring countries?
Why are Tigers endangered?
What is your favorite National Santuary or National Park in India? Where is it located? What animal is it famous for?
White Tigers are a special type of ____________.
What is the national bird of India?

Sample Test Questions - Heros and Heroines

2005-06-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

Who was the first woman prime minister of India?
Teachers Day is celebrated in India on _________ in memory of ___________
_________ was called the Nightingale of India.
Gandhi was born on ____________
Who was the first Prime Minister of India?
____________ was the first Asian to recieve the Nobel Prize. He got it for ________.
Mahatma means ____________
Who is the father of the Nation for India?
People of India call Gandhiji ________ meaning "Great Soul".
The full name of Gandhi was ______________.
Rabindranath Tagore got the Nobel Prize for ________ category for his work _______.
Who wrote the Indian National Anthem?
Who was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru?
Who was the first Governor of free India?
Who was the first Vice President of India?
Why is teachers day celebrated?
Gandhi won Indian Independence by
a)Violence b)Non-Violence c)Elections

Vedic Math - Shulba Sutra and How Indians used Geometry since 2500 BCE

2005-06-04T19:47:00.000-04:00

I am a believer that, we humans are in pursuit of Science to learn about our past and future to understand our place in this world. So, Science transends all boundaries of race, religion and is universal to humanity. In simple worlds Scientist benefit most when they build upon the work of others worldwide and can get closer to their next discoveries.

Vedic Math is the ancient Indian Mathematics offering sanskrit slokas in 1-liners using which we can simplify and perform math arithmetic, geometry and more very easily. Most Science in the past in various cultures was integrated wth religion and spirituality.

Similarly, Vedic Math was offered as ways for the ancient priests to apply math in their calculation of the right shapes and methods to employ in Hindu religious practices and constructions.

Thanks to Sarangati magazine for their aritcles on Vedic Age.
Vedic Math and the Spiritual Dimension outlines Sulba Sutra and how Vedic Math had knowledge and applied Geometry in 2500 BCE.

I wonder what Pythogeros would have founded if he had this knowledge of Vedic Math translated for him to build upon! Mabe we as a human race today would be several centuries ahead of ourselves in Science and in our realization of our place and purpose on earth!

I just learnt of a famous quote from the famous scientist
Joeseph Needam "Future research on the history of science and technology in Asia will in fact reveal that the achievements of these peoples contribute far more in all pre-Renaissance periods to the development of world science than has yet been realized".

I just wanted to mention the quote here as its the same idea I got independently about human race needing to build on all scienitic effort world-wide beyond boundaries.

Sample Test Questions - Mahabharat

2005-06-03T19:58:00.000-04:00

Here are four online quiz from the Mahabharat. It focuses primarily on the basic relationship between different characters, which is importat to understand rest of the story.

You can print them and review relevant questions or try the online quiz directly. Thanks to srinivasp who has maintained this on tripod for so many years.

Test 1
Test2
Test3
Test 4

Indian Heros and Heroines - Leaders

2005-05-27T18:50:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Info4india for their extensive collection of Indian leaders.

Scientists and Visionaries of Technology
Jagadish Chandra Bose - my favorite scientist
JRD Tata - industrialist and visionary who started Aviation (flight) into India.
Chandrasekhar Subhramanyam
Dr.Salim Ali -ornithologist, known as Birdman
Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan - cytogeneticist and father of Green Revolution in India.
Prasanth Chandra Mahalanobis - statistician and founder of the Indian Statistical Institute.

Inspiring Women Leaders
Kiran Bedi - amazing woman police officer who made major reforms in Indian prisons.
Lata Mangeshkar
P.T.Usha - olympic medalist runner, athlete woman
Sarojini Naidu
Rani Lakshmibai
Mother Teresa

Freedom Fighters
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Lala Lajpat Rai
Bhagat Singh
Surendranath Banerjea
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Veer Savarkar
Subhash Chandra Bose
Mahatma Gandhi
Jawahar Lal Nehru
Jay Prakash Narayan
Maharana Pratap - fought against muslim invasion of India

Dhyan Chand

Narian Karthikeyan

Prasanth Chandra Mahalanobis - statistician and founder of the Indian Statistical Institute.

Inspiring Atheletes
Prakash Padukone - athelete
Milkha Singh - athlete

Inspiring Artists
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
Satyajit Ray - filmmaker
Zakir Hussain - genius tabla artist
Vikram Seth - writer
R K Narayan - writer
Raj Kapoor - actor
Mohammed Rafi - singer
Bismillah Khan
Pandit Ravi Shankar

Spiritual Leaders
Sri Ramakrishna - spiritual leader
Swami Vivekananda
Aravinda Ackroyd Ghosh - popularly known as Sri Aurobindo
Gautam Buddha
Adi Sankaracharya
Lord Mahavira

Wildlife and Conservation - National parks and Wildflife Santuaries

2005-05-23T21:21:00.000-04:00

Thanks to The Bharat.com for their neat organization of Indian Santuaries by zone.

Rare Indian Art Forms - Bronze Statue Sculpture from Thanjavur TamilNadu

2005-05-23T21:09:00.000-04:00

Thanjaur Bronze Sculptures are world famous. These are passed along through the generations of some families inheriting the art form.

The Thanjavur Art Gallery houses some of these rare collections.

Indian Heros and Heroines - Influencers and Educators

2005-05-22T20:52:00.000-04:00

Dr.AnandaK.Coomaraswamy - He taught the Western World how to look at Eastern Art.
MadanaMohanaMalaviya - Started Benaras Hindu University.
RajaRammohanRoy - Maker of Modern India.

India Facts - General Information

2005-05-22T20:44:00.000-04:00

India Villa lists a nice summary of Indian Information. (oops, has some typo, though)

Indian Heros and Heroines - Freedom Fighters

2005-05-22T20:41:00.000-04:00

Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lala Lajpat Rai
Motilal Nehru
Dr.B.R.Ambedkar - crafted the Indian Constitution
Rajaji - world famous statesman and freedom fighter
KM.S.Golwalkar

Indian Heros and Heroines - Scientists and Visionaries

2005-05-22T20:37:00.000-04:00

India is famous for her scientific discoveries from ancient tmes. Also, some of them were visionaries who helped build out the infrastructure needed to make India self-sufficient after Independence.

Dr.C.V.Raman - Nobel Laurette for discovery of Raman Effect or why the sky is blue.
VikramaSarabhai - visionary beind the Indian Space Program.
HomiBhabha
Dr.J.C.Bose - My favorite who discovered wireless and that plants have life and was not recognized as India was not a free country. His birthday is celebrated as National Science Day on Feb 28th, in India.
SathyendranathBose
Dr.P.C.Ray
BirbalSahni

Literature - Famous Poets

2005-05-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

Thanks to India Villa for their nice list of poets.
Tulasidas
Kalidas
BankimChandra
TenaliRamakrishna
Namadeva
MaharshiValmiki
Rabindranath Tagore - winner of Nobel Prize for Literature for his poem Gitanjali.

Famous Personalities - Freedom Fighters

2005-05-22T20:32:00.000-04:00

Thanks to India Villa for the nice list with pictures.

Gandhiji
Sardar Patel
Tilak .
Ramaprasad Bismil
Bhagath Singh
Khudiram Bose
Tatia Tope
Ashfaqulla Khan
Madame Cama

Epics and Mythology - My favorite list

2005-05-22T20:26:00.000-04:00

India Vilas Kids Corner has nice kids version of Indian Epics.

• Ramayana
• Mahabharata
• Mahabali
• Dhruva
•Harischandra
• Prahlada
• Savitri
• Krishna
• Samudra Manthanam
• PanchaTantra
• Mariada Raman
• Tennalirama

Epics Mahabharat - Stories online

2005-05-22T20:21:00.000-04:00

Mahabharat is the longest poetry/story in the world.

Here, I have collected a variety of sources who have done a great job to present it for different audience.

My Culture II students need to focus on story of Karna and Bhisma only.

Parents: Please use the cheatsheet by Liz or Bhisma and Karna story chapters from Indolink to brush up your memory of Mahabharat and talk to the kids.

Thats what I did in class, otherwise Mahabharat is very complex and has some material which can raise questions we do not want to get into in II grade. Thanks to Sheela for pointing this out.

Here is a cheatsheet by Liz on the whole Mahabharat.

Rest of these links are great but not for very young kids.

Thanks to Indolink for their detailed version of Mahabharat abridged for kids.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

Thanks India Nest and Dr. CS Shah (his copyrights too) for the Mahabharat listed as several stories, easy to follow. (This is well written but not recommended for young kids)

Note: I have removed the links to India Vilas Mahabharat links as the language is not appropriate for young kids and has some typos.

Sample Test Questions - Indiafacts Geography

2005-05-22T20:11:00.000-04:00

Interactive powerpoint of simple Indian Geography Quiz

Sample Test Questions - Indiafacts

2005-05-22T20:10:00.000-04:00

Interactive quiz game.
Clikc on next question each time.

Gandhi - Resources about his life

2005-05-22T19:23:00.000-04:00

Gandhi is the greatest leader of 20th Century( times ma of the century runner-up). His success with non-violence inspired people like Martin Luthr King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

Everytime I read about him, I find it amazing thinking about the condition of the times in which he operated and how he went about his work as if entire India was some fun project and everyone was his resources and every problem was his to solve.

Here are some useful resources to learn about his life and work.

Video clippings from Gandhi Serve Foundation

His writings from Gandhian Institute Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal

The Official Mahatma Gandhi eArchive & Reference Library from the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation India has a unique collection of

Worldwide Gandhi Commemorative stamps

Amar Chita Katha Comic about Gandhi (English)

Gandhi Comic in Hindi and Gurajati

Salt March 75th year History Site has amazing real video footing

Sample Test Questions - Gandhi

2005-05-22T18:30:00.000-04:00

This section is to serve as a teaching aid on the topic of Gandhi with some sample quiz.

Here is a quiz.

This one is like an interactive game , note size is 382KB (may take some time to load), and has Gandhi talking in contemporary American slang. (which some may find amusing, others not so much).

India Facts - National Flag, Anthem, Emblem,Song, Animal, Bird, Flower etc.

2005-05-22T16:37:00.000-04:00

Indian Govertment has an official web site of India Information on the web, called Indiaimage.

This lists the official National everything below.

National Flag
National Anthem
National Emblem
National Song
National Calendar
National Animal
National Bird
National Flower
National Languages

Indian Democracy - Gandhian Foundation from his close associates

2005-05-22T16:15:00.000-04:00

Indian Leaders worked to build India with Management and Vision, couple decades before independence, so that India could trive as a democracy right after independence.

I find this very fascinating because these are conscious actions taken by great men who cared deeply for their country, hashed out several ideas from different backgrounds and worked as a team and laid the foundation for the democracy of India we take for granted. It was done by men and women who were rich in soul-power, but were slaves of British India with no specific resources or institutional support.

These are not addressed in Gandhis biographies but can be noticed in the actions and lives of his close associates.

Here, I attempt to collect such stories together to get an idea of the work before Indian Independence and shortly after Independence.

Lets start by looking at the lives of the close associates of Mahatma Gandhiji as Gandhiji sought out talented young men in several fields and helped them with initial projects to get started and instilled his social values in them to work for Indias poor.

Thanks to Gandhian Institute Bombay Sanvodaya Mandal for these links.

J. C. Kumarappa
Hermann Kallenbach
Baba Amte
Mirabehn
Maganlal Gandhi
Mahadev Desai
Badshah Khan
Acharya Vinoba

Indian Languages - Summary by Jaisiva

2005-05-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

Indian Languages

Introduction:

There are 29 states and 6 union territories in India. There are 18 official languages and approximately 100 other languages spoken in India. But, almost each of these 18 languages, include different dialects or variations of that language. Most of the languages of India belong to two families, Aryan and Dravidian.

Languages spoken in the four states of south India belong to the Dravidian family and most of the languages spoken in the north are of Aryan family. The general script of the Aryan languages is different from the general script of Dravidian languages.

History Of Indian Languages:

The Aryans are said to have entered India through the fabled Khyber pass, around 1500 BC. Before the Aryans, the Dravidian people resided in India. It is believed that coming of the Aryans pushed the local people southwards or towards the jungles and mountains in north India.

The Aryans are believed to have brought with them the horse, developed the Sanskrit language and made significant contribution to the religion of the times.

The languages spoken in present India, evolved in different phases of Indian history. In the earlier stage of Indian history other languages were spoken. The holy books of different religions that developed in ancient India are written in different languages. The holy books of Hinduism were written Sanskrit

Indian languages now in use have evolved from different language families in the course of time in history.

The Constitution has recognized Hindi, in the Devanagiri script, as Indias official language. However, English continues to be the official working language. For many educated Indians, English is virtually their first language, and for a great number of Indians who are multi-lingual, it will probably be the second. The regional languages have been recognized as the official language of the States. In many cases, the state boundaries are drawn between linguistic lines.

Despite their separate names, Hindi and Urdu are actually slightly different dialects of the same language. The main differences lie in their vocabulary sources, scripts, and religious traditions. Hindi vocabulary derives mainly from Sanskrit, while Urdu contains many words of Persian and Arabic origin; Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, and Urdu in a Persian Arabic script. Hindi is spoken mainly by Hindus; Urdu is used predominantly by Muslims—in India as well as throughout Pakistan.

Bihari is actually the name of a group of three related languages—Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Magahi—spoken mainly in northeastern India in Bihar. Despite its large number of speakers, Bihari is not a constitutionally recognized language of India. Even in Bihar, Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters.

Facts about Dravidian Languages

About 23 Dravidian languages are spoken by an estimated 169 million people, mainly in southern India.

The 4 major Dravidian tongues are recognized as official state languages—Tamil in Tamil Nadu, Telugu in Andhra Pradesh, Kannada (Kanarese) in Mysore, and Malayalam in Kerala.

Dravidian languages have long literary histories and are written in their own scripts.

Telugu is spoken by the largest number of people

Tamil has the richest literature, is thought to be extremely ancient, and it is spoken over the widest area, including northwestern Sri Lanka.

Official Languages Of India, recognized by the Indian constitution

	Language	Spoken Approx By
1	Assamese	13 million
2	Bengali	69.5 million
3	Gujarati	40 million
4	Hindi	337 million
5	Kannada	32 million
6	Kashmiri	56 thousand
7	Konkani	1.7 million
8	Malayalam	30.3 million
9	Manipuri	1.2 million
10	Marathi	62 million
11	Nepali	2 million
12	Oriya	28 million
13	Punjabi	23 million
14	Sanskrit	49.7 thousand
15	Sindhi	2.1 million
16	Tamil	53 million
17	Telugu	66 million
18	Urdu	43 million

Assamese is the language of Assam and is spoken by nearly 60 percent of the State population. It developed as a literary language from the 13th Century.

Bengali, one of the leading Indo-Aryan languages, is the official language of West Bengal. It too developed as a language in the 13th Century and is now spoken by nearly 200 million people in West Bengal and in Bangladesh.

Bengali is spoken by almost the entire population of Bangladesh. Like Hindi, it is descended from Sanskrit, and has the most extensive literature of any modern Indian language.

Gujarati is the official language of the state of Gujarat and is spoken by 70 percent of the State population. Gujarat started out as an independent language around AD 1200. It is now one of the most developed languages in India.

Hindi is numerically the biggest of the Indo-Aryan family and is the official language of India. Two major varieties of Hindi are spoken; Western Hindi, which originated in the area around Delhi, includes literary Hindi and Urdu and Eastern Hindi is spoken mainly in central Uttar Pradesh and eastern Madhya Pradesh. There are various dialects of Hindi. In six states and union Territories, Hindi is the official language.

Kannada is the state language of Karnataka and is spoken by 65 percent of the state population. It belongs to the Dravidian family, and dates back to the 9th Century as an independent language.

Kashmiri is a language of the Indo-Aryan group and is often mistaken as the state language of Jammu and Kashmir. Urdu is the state language of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri speaking population of the state comes to around 55% of the total population. Kashmiri literature goes back to AD 1200.

Konkani, the official language of Goa, is principally based on classical Sanskrit and belongs to the southwestern branch of Indo-Aryans. It is spoken by thousands of Konkanis in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala also.

Malayalam, a branch of the Dravidian family is the official language of the state of Kerala. It is also spoken in Lakshwadeep islands. Malayalam developed as an independent language, by the 10th Century AD. It is the youngest of all developed languages in the Dravidian family.

Marathi, the Indic language, dates back to the 13th Century. It is the official language of Maharashtra. Though Marathi separated from the Indo-Aryan stock at a very early date , it has today a fully developed literature of the modern type.

Oriya, a branch of the Indo-Aryan family, is the official language of the State of Orissa, where the Oriya speaking population comprises around 82% of the total population. Oriya is found recorded as far back as the 10th Century. However, its literary career began only in the 14th Century.

Punjabi belongs to the Indo-Aryan family and is the official language of the State of Punjab. Punjabi, though very ancient, turned literary around the 15th Century. From the 19th Century, Punjabi showed vigorous development in all branches of literature. It is written in Gurmukhi script, created by the Sikh Guru, Angad.

Punjabi (Panjabi), spoken in the Punjab, a region covering parts of northeastern India and western Pakistan, was the language of the gurus, the founders of the Sikh religion. The sacred teachings of Sikhism are recorded in Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script, which was devised by a Sikh guru. In India, Punjabi is close to the Hindi language; to the west, in Pakistan, Punjabi dialects differ markedly.

Sanskrit, the classical language of India, is also one of the oldest languages in the world- perhaps the oldest to be recorded. It starts with the Rig Veda, which appears to have been composed around 2000 BC. Early Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit and covers the period between 500 BC and AD 1000.

Sindhi is spoken by a great number of people in the Northwest frontier of the Indian subcontinent comprising parts of India and Pakistan. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan family and preserved some of the archaic characteristics of the Indo-Aryan script. Sindhi is actually an offshoot of some of the dialects of the Vedic Sanskrit. Sindh, on the north west of undivided India, had always been the first to bear the onslaught of the never-ending invaders, and as such absorbed Hindi, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, English and even Portuguese. Sindh is where Persian and Indian cultures blended

Tamil is the oldest of the Dravidian languages and is the State language of Tamil Nadu. Tamil literature goes back to Centuries before the Christian era. It represents certain new literary types that are not in Sanskrit or other Aryan languages. It spoken by more than 73 million people.

Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken by the people of Andhra Pradesh. It is numerically the biggest linguistic unit in India. Telugu is found to be recorded in the 7th Century AD. However, it is only in the 11th Century that it broke out into a literary language.

Urdu is the State language of Jammu and Kashmir and is spoken by more than 28 million people In India. The name "Urdu" is derived from "Zabane-e-Urdu-Muala" which means the language of the exalted camp or court. Here it refers to the camp or court of the ruling Sultans of Delhi. Urdu and Hindi have proceeded from the same source i.e., Khariboli. Urdu is written in the Persio-Arabic script and contains many words from the Persian language.

Languages Spoken In the States and Union Terrotories Of India

Indo-Aryan languages: 491,087,116, 74.24%, Dravidian languages: 157,836,723, 23.86%

Jammu & Kashmir (Dogri, Kashmiri, Ladakhi, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Baltistani, Dardi)

Himanchal Pradesh (Hindi, Pahadi)

Punjab (Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu)

Haryana (Hindi, Haryanvi, Predominantly Muslim - Urdu)

Rajasthan (Hindi, Rajasthani, Marwadi, Predominantly Muslim - Urdu)

Uttar Pradesh (Hindi, Brijbhasha, Pahadi, Avadhi, Bhojpuri, numerous others, Pred. Musl. - Urdu)

Uttaranchal (Hindi)

Chhattisgarh (Hindi)

Madhya Pradesh (Hindi, Marathi, numerous others, pred. Muslim - Urdu)

Gujarat (Gujarati)

Maharashtra (Marathi, Vidarbha region - Hindi and Marathi)

Karnataka (Kannada)

Goa (Konkani)

Kerala (Malayalam)

Tamil Nadu (Tamil)

Lakshadweep (Malayalam )

Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Andamanese)

Andhra Pradesh (Telugu, Hyderabad city - Telugu plus Urdu)

Orissa (Oriya)

Bihar (Hindi, Bhojpuri, Maithini, Santhali, Angika, numerous others, Bengali, Pred. Muslim - Urdu)

Jharkhand (Hindi)

West Bengal (Bengali)

Sikkim (Nepali, Lepcha, Bhutia)

Assam (Assamese, others)

Meghalaya (Garo, Khasi)

Arunanchal Pradesh (Nissi, Daffla)

Mizoram (Mizo)

Nagaland (Naga)

Tripura (Tripuri, Bengali, Kuki)

Delhi (Hindi)

Please print out a copy of the linguistic map of India from

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/indianlanguages.htm

and use as a reference material for this topic.

Wildlife and Conservation - National Animal Tiger

2005-05-13T05:42:00.000-04:00

Tiger is the national Animal of India.
There are 5 sub-species of tigers left in the world today. Of these,
Bengal Tigers live in India. White tigers are a type of Bengal tiger.

Tigers are endangered today. 3 sub-species of Tigers are already extinct.
Reasons are:

hunting—poaching—of tigers

destruction of the forests in which they live

Kids, click here to learn about tigers and play some tiger games.

Wildlife and Conservation - Wildflife Santuaries

2005-05-13T04:58:00.000-04:00

Wildlife Sanctuaries of India

Here is a short-list meant be an educational resource for school-age kids. If you have visited any of these places, please add your comments. Also, let me know about other wildlife santuaries of India.

Annamalai Sanctuary (near Mudumalai National Park) two species that are exclusive to the Nilgiri Hills, langur and the lion tailed macaque.

B R Hills also known as Biligirirangana range of hills is located between the Cauvery and Tungabhadra rivers in Karnataka and has a variety of wildlife and birds.

Bhimashankar Sanctuary located in Maharastra, famous for leopard, sambar, barking deer, wild pig, Hanuman langur and Rhesus macaque and the endangered Indian Giant Squirrel. Click here to see a users pictures of this Santuary.

Chambal is shared by the three states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh most famous for the rare gangetic dolphin and also has mugger, gharial, chinkara, samber, nilgai wolf and wild boar.

Dandeli is located at the border of Goa, famous for elephant, tiger, leopard, gaur, flying squirrel, mouse deer, etc., and a variety of birds.

Gorumara locate d in Northern West Bengal near Siliguri , famous for the Great Indian one-horned Rhinoceros, the Indian Elephant and the Indian Bison.

Jaldapara famous for one-horned rhinoceros, elephant, sambhar, barking deer, spotted deer, Crested Eagle, Pallas Fishing Eagle and shikra, besides Jungle fowl, peafowl, patridges, Bengal Florican and lesser Pied Hornbill, Python, monitor lizards, krates, cobras, geckos and about 8 species of fresh water turtles.

Mudumalai Sanctuary

Rann of Kutch located in Gujarat, famous for endangered Asiatic wild ass, endangered Houbara bustard,rare and beautiful beasts: the onagers.

Sariska located in Delhi and famous for flying Egyptian vultures and eagles.

Wildlife and Conservation - National Parks

2005-05-12T18:52:00.000-04:00

India has snow capped Himalayas in the north and temparate weather in the center and a tropical south. So it has a wealth of wildlife in several National Parks and Santuaries.

National parks in India

Here is a short-list meant be an educational resource for school-age kids. If you have visited any of these places, please add your comments. Also, let me know about other National parks in India, that I mayhave missed.

Bandhavgarh National park - Famous for discovery of White Tiger.

Bandipur National park - Located in Karnataka. Houses the great black woodpecker and Asian Elephant.

Corbett National park - Located in Utharanchal. First National Park of India. Famous for Elephants, Tigers, Chital, Mugger, Crocodile, Migratory birds.

Desert National park - Located in Rajasthan. Famous for Desert birds.

Dudhwa National park - Marshland near Nepal, famous for birds and barasingha, the magnificent swamp deer and tiger and leopard.

Eravikulam National park - Located in Kerala, famous for Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered goat.

Gir National park - Located in Gujarat, famous for last surviving population of 300 Asiatic Lions and the flamingo Island and crested serpent eagle

Kanha National park - Located in Madhya Pradesh, offers a Elephant back ride to see animals hard ground barasingha and tigers.

Kaziranga National park - Located on the Brahmaputra River, famous for Rhinos and the crested serpent eagle, the Pallas fishing eagle and greyheaded fishing eagle.

Keoladeo Ghana or Bharatpur National park is one of the finest water-bird sanctuaries in the world, famous for Siberian cranes.

Mudumalai National park Located in Tamil Nadu on Mysore Ooty Highway has variety of animals among teak and bamboo tress famous for wild elephant, gaur, deer and primates like the bonnet macaque and langurs, tiger, leopard and the dhole- the Asiatic wild dog,crested hawk eagle and the crested serpent eagle, and tiny eared owl, the scops owl and the little scops owl.

Nagarhole ("Snake River") National park best during dry seasons famous for gaur (Indian bison), elephant, dhole (wild dog), deer, boar, and even the odd tiger or leopard.

Panna National park located in Madhya Pradesh famous for tigers, sloth bear, crocodile, cinkara, sambhar and chital and variety of bird life.

Periyar National park located in Kerala, famous for Malabar animals along a lake including elephant, sambar, gaur and wild boars and leopard, wild dog, barking deer, mouse deer, monitor lizards and a variety of snakes and birds include darter, cormorant, grey heron, ibis, great malabar hornbill and grey hornbill, kingfishers, ospreys and kites as well as orioles, hill mynas, racket tailed drongos, parakeets, including the unusual blue winged paraket and fly catchers.

Ranthambhor National park located in Jaipur between Aravali and Vindhya ranges with deciduous forests which ware part of the magnificent jungles of Central India.

Sunderbans National park located in West Bengal and spreads into Bangladesh, famous for 200 Royal Bengal tigers who are good swimmers and estuarine crocodile along Mangroves.

Tadoba National Park is located at Chandrpur in Maharastra, famous for Gaur or Wild Ox ,Crocodiles, Tigers Leopards ,Sloth Bears, Doles or Wild Dogs , Hyenas, Nilgai, Sambar (largest deer in India), Spotted Deer or Chital,Wild Boar , Mongoose, Civet Cat, Jungle Cat,Langurs and Macques. Click here to see a users account and pictures.

Wildlife and Conservation - Indian Organizations Helping Conservation through Science

2005-05-11T02:05:00.000-04:00

Bombay Natural History Society is 120 year old Non-Government Organization(NGO) focusing on Conservation of nature, primarily biological diversity, through action based on research, education and public awareness. BHS is world-renowned and conducts research in collaboration with international organizations like Smithsonian Institution and US Fish and Wildlife Service to help provide scientific basis for conservation programs.

Center for Science and Environment(CSE) is an independent, public interest organisation which aims to increase public awareness on science, technology, environment and development, started in 1980.

Zoo Outreach Organisation -- Z.O.O. link zoos, rescue centers, and botanic gardens with organizations that work with wildlife in the wild for the purpose of education, research, animal welfare and conservation action.

Wildlife and Conservation - Western Ghats

2005-05-11T00:14:00.000-04:00

The Western Ghats are a chain of mountains running along the western edge of the Indian subcontinent, from Mumbai (Bombay) to the southern tip of the peninsula, through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The Western Ghats offer exceptional biological diversity and conservation interest, and are one of the major Tropical Evergreen Forest regions in India (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988). Click here to see a users pictures of the Flora of Western Ghats .

Epics Ramayan - Full Stories for Kids

2005-05-07T00:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Indolink for the full Ramayan

Part 1 - Early years
Part 2 - Vanvas or Exile
Part 3 - Sitas Haran or Abduction
Part 4 - Ravan Vadam and Ramar Pattabhishegam