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Welcome to India!
Home of my penpal Riku!

India is the 7th largest country in the world and second most populated. It has a larger variety of races than any other country in the world. It's history goes back 5,000 years! India is divided into 25 regions, and it's capital city is New Delhi, the currency used is the rupee. The official languages are Hindi and English, but the Indian Constitution recognises 15 state languages. These are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. So the Indian education system includes English, Hindi, and the locally used language. Hindi and it's variations are spoken by more than 40% of the population and is understood by more than 75%
Hindus make up nearly 80% of the population. The rest are Muslims (most Indian muslims are Sunni, they are spread nearly right across the country, but there are large communities in Uttar Pradesh, parts of Gujarat, Bengal Kashmir, Kerala, Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu;) There are Christians found all across India, Buddists (mostly located in Maharashtra in the west,) Jains (mostly in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan,) Sikhs, who I think are mostly located in the Punjab region? Jews, and Zoroastrians.
Riku is a Hindu, she lives in Assam, and is a follower of Lord Vishnu, but there are lots of other gods and goddesses she prays to also. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, though it is more of a way of life , than a religion, but I'll call it a religion anyway, because I can't think of a better word. It has no founder or single scripture, unlike many other religions. It doesn't have rules so much, but is full of rituals. Water is sacred to Hindus, particularly the river Ganges (or as the Indians call it, Ganga) which is extremely holy to them. Every animal is associated with a god or goddess, it is this association with the gods, that is one reason that many Hindus are vegetarian. Vegetarian or not, no Hindu eats beef because cows are holy to them.
(I got this info from the "Cultures of the World series" and from Riku's letters.)

Ever seen pictures of Hindu brides? Even though Riku is not married yet, and is unlikely to get married soon, I thought I'd put a link to the Henna Page, because it is so amazing you really ought to look.
Mahatma.com has some good information about, surprise surprise,Mahatma Ghandi!
To see the language make up of India, go here
Check out Kogee's Page for lots of info on Hinduism and other bits and pieces. Click on "Hindu Gods and Mantra" and click on "Vishnu Mantra," it shows a picture of Lord Vishnu, who is of particular significance here, since Riku is a follower of Lord Vishnu.
For a page showing the holidays of India, search in the Global Calender Can't put a link directly to the Indian page, because the webmaster asked us not to. Bit of surfing won't kill either of us.
Have a look at the India Heritage Site for all sorts of bits and pieces.
To compare the Indian Rupee and anything else, use the Yahoo Currency Converter.
To see pictures of this country's paper money, go to Ron Wise's Paper Money Homepage
There is very interesting information on the Interknowledge India Site.

Email me at rosie_0801@yahoo.com