Know India

Ladakh is a land abounding in awesome physical features, set in an enormous and spectacular environment. Bounded by two of the world's mightiest mountain ranges, the Karakoram in the north and the Great Himalaya in the south, it is traversed by two other parallel chains, the Ladakh Range and the Zanskar Range.Ladakh has often changed names, all of which give a good description of the conditions prevailing in the region: Ladwags-land below the mountain passes; Bladwags: land of the lama; Maryul: the red country; Muah Ris bSsor Gsum: land to the west of Tibet.

Kaziranga is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam, India.It is a World Heritage Site, and two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses live in the park. Kaziranga has the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.

Located at a distance of about 116 kms from Chandigarh, Bhakra Nangal dam is one of the world's highest straight gravity dam, constructed across the River Satlej.The hydroelectric station positioned here not just generates power for Chandigarh, but also for Delhi and other cities. The construction work of Bhakra Nangal dam began in 1948 and got completed in 1963.

This gigantic dam derives its name from a village called Bhakra, now submerged in the Gobindsagar reservoir. The construction started in 1948 and was completed in 1960. It was M. Harvey Slocum, an American ranked top in construction at that time, who initiated the project on Jawaharlal Nehru's request.

The Indian television system is one of the most extensive systems in the world. Terrestrial broadcasting, which has been the sole preserve of the government, provides television coverage to over 90% of India's 900 million peopleBy the end of 1996 nearly 50 million households had television sets.

Ghoomar is a traditional women's folk dance of Rajasthan, India which was developed by the Bhil tribe and was adopted by the Rajputs. It is performed by groups of women in swirling robes, and accompanied by men and women singing together The ghoomar is one of the legacies that they passed on to the Rajput royalty. Derived from the word ghoomna (pirouette), this is a very simple dance where the ladies, dressed in resplendent voluminous ghagras, move smoothly and gracefully in circles. The accompanying songs are sung alternately by both men and women, as the dancers move both clockwise and anti-clockwise. The effect of the free play of the folds of the ample and colourful ghagra is dazzling.