All AboutIndia

by years 3 and 4

 

Discover India

Landscape and Climate

Culture

Religion and Beliefs

Jobs and Trade

Food and Farming

Contents

Images of children working to go in here.

 

India is in the continent of Asia. The area of India is 3,287,263 sq km. This is more than one third the size of America. India became independent from Great Britain in 1947 with its capital in New Delhi. India chose its new flag when it became independent. The saffron (orange) colour is a symbol of courage. The white represents peace and honesty whilst green represents hope, joy, fertility and love. The blue wheel is called dharma chakra which means the wheel of law and it has 24 spokes. The blue represents vigilance, truth and loyalty.

An Asian giantIndia is part of the continent of Asia. It has a long coastline and is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Its nearby countries include Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh. India is the seventh largest country in the world and has over 1.18 billion people living there. With so many people, it is the worlds largest democracy - even bigger than the USA.

India is divided into lots of different states which are ruled over by different groups of people, although there is a central government. It is a diverse country with some people very rich and some very poor.

Discover India

The Indian flag (left) also represents its diverse people and religions with the orange for Hindus and the green for Muslims. The white stands for Muslims and Hindus living together in harmony.

Schools in IndiaIndia has made good progress since independence in expanding school attendance for both boys and girls. Attendance can still be a problem for some families though, even if school is free. This is because some families do not have enough money for school supplies and books. Poor families may also need boys to help them work and in some places girls stay home and look after the younger children.

 

This map shows the states of India, its surrounding countries and the seas and oceans.

Wealthier Indians enjoying a coffee in a modern cafe.

The Bengal Tiger is the national animal of India

India Factfile

Capital city: New Delhi Currency: Rupee and Paise

Government type: Federal Main religion: Hinduism

Main languages: Hindi (41%), Bengali (8.1%), Telugu (2.2%) Marathi (7%), Tamil (5.9%), Urdu (5%)

 

 

Landscape and Climate

Introducing climateClimate is the average weather conditins over a long period of time in a certain place. India has a different climates in different regions. These vary from wet subtropical in the north to semi-arid dry climate in the south with a rainy tropical climate on the west coast.

SeasonsIndia is largely subject to four seasons. Winter is from January to February, summer lasts from March to May. The monsoon is the main rainy season (see box) and is from June to September. This is followed by a post- monsoon period from October to December.

These graphs show the temperature (top) and rainfall in New Delhi in a normal year.

LandscapesThe Ganges, or Ganga, is one of the world’s great rivers. Its wide valley stretches across northern India from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the most fertile of all agricultural regions producing rice and other crops to feed hundreds of millions of people in India and Bangladesh.

India’s puzzleboard of 26 states holds virtually every kind of landscape imaginable. Fromarid mountains in the far north to lakes and forests near Srinigar and Jammu. Falling south along the Indus river valley, the land becomes flatter and more hospitable with the fertile plains of Punjab in the west and the Himalayan foothills of Uttar Pradesh and the Ganges river valley in the east. Cramped between these is the capital city, Delhi. The southwestern extremity of the North is the large state of Rajastan, whose principal features are the Thar Desert and the stunning “pink city”

MountainsIndia is a very mountainous place with many famous mountains including Ananud, Arganglas and Bambad. The Himalayas is a group of mountains in the north and has some of the highest mountains in the world. The Himalayas are characterized by great height, snow-capped peaks, large valleys, deep river gorges and rich vegetation. Kangchenjunga (below) is located on the boundary between Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim. It is the third highest mountain in the world and rises with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft).

Rainfall and the MonsoonThe Indian summer monsoon lasts from June to September in large areas of India. A monsoon is a seasonal shift that brings different weather. The monsoon brings most of India’s rainfall. The Indian monsoon forecast was first issued in 1886. In the last 135 years the monsoon has been normal 94 times. This means rainfall was 10 per cent above or below average.

The Thar Desert in the north west of India has a dry climate with little rain.

The south-western state of Kerala has a rainy tropical climate - good for growing rice.

 

Culture BollywoodBollywood is the name used for the Hindi –language films made in Mumbai. It is one of the biggest film industries in the world and over 1000 films are made each year. A lot of the story in the film is told though singing and dancing.

Taj MahalThe Taj Mahal was built in 1631 and was finished in 1653, taking a total of 22 years to complete. It was built by Shah Jahan in the city of Agra and tokk more than 20,000 workers to finish building it. The building is an Islamic tomb and was built in memory of the Shah’s wife.The Taj Mahal is today open to the public between sunrise and sunset everyday, but is closed on Fridays.

HennaHenna is a plant that is used for temporary tattooing. It is also known as Mehndi andis drawn as beautiful patterns usually on hands and feet. In Kerala it is called Mialange.

India’s culture is very different throughout the country and is unlike any other culture in the world. Culture means the way people live and the things they enjoy doing. In India this includes dance, music, art and architecture.

ClothingA sari is the second best Indian dress that woman wear. Young girls also wear saris to look beautiful for parties and special occasions. Saris may be multi-colored or have interesting patterns on them including pictures of flowers.

Jubbah’s are what most Indian men wear because it is fancy. It is especially worn for weddings because it has a very lovely design.

SportsCricket is the most popular sport in India. The national team have won major events such as the 1983 and 2011 cricket world cups

and the 2007 ICC world Twenty 20. Football is the most popular sport after Cricket even though the national sport of India is field hockey and they have won 8 Olympic gold medals.

Keralan dance tells stories from the past. In this one two servants are fanning a goddess.

Dancing and singing is a main ingredient of Bollywood films.

 

Religion and Beliefs

India is a country with many different religions. The main religions are Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Although Indian religions are connected through the history of India, they make up a wide range of religious communities and they are not confined to the Indian subcontinent.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world but in India it is one of the smaller religions with only about 25 million followers. However this is still about the same as the entire population of Australia and New Zealand together!

HinduismHinduism is the third most popular religion in the world. The word Hindu comes from a Sanskrit word for the river Indus. Hinduism is a religion based on a matter of practice rather than of one central set of beliefs. There is no single founder of Hinduism and there are many different gods (left). Hindu’s share a set of sacred scriptures called the Vedas.

IslamIslam is the world’s second biggest religion and is followed by Muslims. India has many Muslims who pray in its many Mosques. To pray they must take off their shoes because they believe it is unclean to wear them. A mosque is also not allowed to have pictures with people in them.

Muslim beliefsMuslims believe in one god called Allah. They believe that he was the one that created all people. Muslims study their religion by reading their holy book which is called the Qu’ran.

BuddhismBuddhism is a another important religion in India. It is known as a very peaceful religion that helps people to find happiness through meditation. Buddhists follow the teachings of Buddha who is also known as ‘the awakened one’.

This Christian Church of St. Francis is in the south Indian state of Kerala .

Hindu burial traditionsDeath is very important time for Hindus. The Hindu scriptures tell that when someone dies their soul is on its way to the next level of existence. Many rituals are performed to help them pass peacefully to the next level.

Five pillars of Islam

Shahadah - declaration of faithSalat - prayerZakat - donation to othersSawm - fastingHajj - going to pray in Mecca

These clothes are typical of those worn by girls and women who follow the Islamic faith.

 

Jobs and Trade

Fairtrade in IndiaMany Indian farmers grow and sell rice, tea, cotton and other products to other countries, like Britain. Where these products are sold at a fair price, it is known as a Fairtrade product. This means more of the money goes to the producers that have grown or made the product. Fairtrade products are labelled using the Fairtrade mark (left) so that people buying them know that they are helping farmers to support their families, send their children to school, and improve their communities.

In the UK, Fairtrade products include honey, chocolate, coffee, sugar, tea, bananas and many more. Many of these products come through the Fairtrade system from India, including tea, cotton and rice. All of these directly help farmers in India to have a better life.

Child LabourWhen children work either part-time or full-time they can miss out on parts of their childhood. Poverty and a lack of good schools are two reasons that children work in India. In parts of rural India people believe that girls education is less important than that of boys. Many girls work in the home or leave school early to get married.

An organisation called Action Aid is trying to reduce child labour in India. They sat that 114 millionchildren are working, with most of these (80 per cent) having jobs in farming. Many children work in the cotton fields which can be dangerous. Recently, a 13 year old boy, Mallesh Harijana, ate a mango after working to spray pesticides on a cotton farm. He had some of the chemicals on his hands and this poisoned and killed him. Fairtrade (above) does not allow child labour, and as India develops more children will perhaps attend school rather than work in the fields.

Retail in IndiaAs people become richer in India, the retail industry (shops and restaurants) is growing very fast. In cities, new shopping centres (left) are providing new jobs, but India still has far fewer of these type of jobs than in other parts of the world.

Many jobs in India are in small scale businesses and trade. At the other extreme, large-scale businesses employ a large number of individuals and have a considerable impact on the economy.

Big businessIndia has many industries including agriculture, textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, cement, mining, petroleum and software. Agriculture plays a significantrole in the overall socio-economic fabric of India. The Indian textile industry is also important.

As India’s economy is changing and becoming richer new jobs in industries such as information technology have appeared. India provides many skilled workers to companies that outsource jobs to India. This is where factories, call centres or other offices are located in India because the wages for workers are much lower.

A fruit seller is typical of many small scale businesses in India.

Looking after working elephants is one of India’s more unusual jobs.

Even very young children may have to work in some parts of India.

 

Food and Farming Traditional food of IndiaIndian food varies across different regions, and may also depend on the cultural group and religion that a person belongs to. Indian food is often celebrated for its good health effects: many spices used in Indian cooking are said to protect against cancer and heart disease, for example.

Indian foods are rich in whole grains including lentils and dried beans such as kidney beans. Many Indian people are vegetarians. The main meal in India is rice with some form of curry. This is often

vegetarian, but could also be meat curry. The main types of meat eaten are chicken, pork, beef and mutton.

Eating out in IndiaFrom roadside cafes called ‘dhabas’ to modern fast food chains, India has a lot of food on offer for people eating out. Shack establishments serve a great variety of food cheaply. In the cities the most popular international cuisines are Chinese, Italian, ‘Continental’/European and Thai. Lasagne, pizza, chop suey and Thai curry are readily available on menus. The mostPopular Indian foods are definitely Mughlai and South Indian. Mughlai cuisine relies on aromatic spices, and tender meats curried or roasted in a tandoor. South Indian food is mostly vegetarian, light and tangy.

Indian Drinks

Masala chai is a mixed spice tea. It is a traditional spice drink brewed with different proportions of warming spices. The spice mixture, called karha, is made from ground ginger and green cardamom pods. Other spices are usually added to this base karha. Sweet lassi (right) is another traditional drink, made from sugar and flavoured yoghurt.

Farming is very important in India. Millions of people have their own farms or grow food for others to eat or to export to other countries. Most people in India are vegetarians and so they grow mostly crops. Some animals are kept for meat and others such as cows are kept for dairy products or to help work on the farmland.

CropsSome of the main agricultural crops grown in India include tea, rice, wheat, coffee and many fruits such as mangoes and bananas. Rice is India’s main crop and is the staple food of people in the eastern and southern parts of the country. Another main food crop is wheat which is widely used for making Indian breads such as chapatis.

Tea is an India bush and is something India has a lot of pride in. The tea leaves are used to make a hot drink that helps to promote positive health. In India it is called ‘chai’ and is enjoyed by people throughout the day. Tea is also one of India’s main export crops. Coffee is also grown for export in the Indian highlands and especially in the state of Karnataka.

Farming Factfile

Farming area: 1,697,000 sq km

Farm machinery: 1.5 million tractors

Farm output: 2nd in world

These women are weeding rice paddies. Rice is the most important crop in India.

A ‘thali’ is a popular meal out with lots of small tasters of different curries.

New western ‘fast foods’ like McDonalds are becoming more common in India as it becomes a wealthier country,

Lifeworlds Learning

This book was made by the pupils in years 3 and 4 of St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Stoke on Trent

It was made on 18-21 March 2013 with help from