National Symbols of India Essay

Adopted by the Government of India from the Sarnath Lion, Capital of Ashoka, on January 26, 1950. Only three lions visible, the fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears in relief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on the right and a horse on the left. The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted. The words â€Å"Satyameva Jayate† meaning â€Å"Truth alone triumphs†, are inscribed below the Emblem in Devnagari script. National Flag: Adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947. The National Flag of India is a horizontal tri colour of deep saffron (Kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion. According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the saffron colour represents the spirit of renunciation, the white band stands for truth and purity and the green colour signifies growth. In the centre of white band there is a wheel in navy blue to represent the Chakra. It has 24 spokes. The ratio of the length and the breadth of the flag is 3 : 2. National Anthem: Ravindra Nath Tagore’s song, ‘Jana-gana-maru C was adopted as the National Anthem of India on January 24, 1950. The song was first sung on December 27, 1911 during the Indian National Congress Session at Calcutta. The complete song consists of five stanzas but the first stanza constitutes the full version of the National Anthem. The playing time of the full version of the National Xfrthem is about 52 seconds. However, a shorter version mpressing the first and last lines of the stanza, which has a playing time of about 20 seconds, is played on some occasions. It reads: Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he Bharat-bhagya-vidhata Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat, Maratha Dravida- Utkala-Banga Vindhya-Himachal- Yamuna- Ganga Uchhala-jaladhi-taranga. Tava shubha name jage, Tava shubha asisa manage, Gahe tava jaya gatha, Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka, jaya he Bharat bhagya vidhata. Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he, jaya jaya jaya jaya he ! National Song: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s ‘Vande Matram’, which was a great source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It was first sung  at 1896 Session of the Indian National Congress. Vande Mataram Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam, Sashya shyamalam, Mataram ! Shubhrajyothsna, Pulakitayaminim, Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim, Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim, Sukhadam, varadam, Mataram ! National Calender: A uniform National Calendar based on the Saka era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22nd March, 1957 along with the Gregorian Calendar for the following official purposes: (i) The Gazette of India; (ii) News broadcasts by All India Radio; (ii) Calenders issued by the Government of India, and (iv) Government communications addressed to members of the public. The dates of the National Calender have a permanent correspondence with the dates of the Gregoian Calendar; 1 Chaitrafalls on 22nd March normally and on 21st March in a leap year. Months of National Calendar: 1. Chaitra; 2. Vaishakh; 3. Jaishta; 4. dha’ 5 Shravan; 6. Bhadra; 7. Ashvina; 8. Kartika; 9. Margashirsha; fn Paus’ha; 11. Magha; 12. Phalguna. National Bird of India: Peacock. National Flower of India: Lotus. NationafAnimal of India: On November 18, 1972, Tiger was declared the national animal by the Wild Life Board of India. National Highways: The total length of National Highways 70,548 km. There are about 77 roads classified as national highways in India. Twelve of the important highways are: Agra – Mumbai, Delhi – Amritsar, Jalandhar – Srinagar – Uri, Delhi __ Ahmedabad – Mumbai, Chandigarh – Manali, Ambala – Shimla – Tibet, Jorhat – Shillong – Bangladesh, Delhi – Kolkata, Manali – Leh, Pathankot – Mandi, Kochi – Madurai, Beawar – Sirohi – Kandla. Mumbai – Pune ExpressWay : The first phase of Mumbai-Pune expressway was thrown open to traffic on May, 2000. Xanguages recognised in the Indian Constitution : Assamese: Bengali; Gujarati; Hindi; Kannada; Kashmiri; Konkani; Malayalam; Manipuri; Marathi; Nepali; Oriya; Punjabi; Sanskrit; Sindhi; Tamil; Telugu and Urdu. In 2003, four more languages, were added Bodo, Dogri, Maithaili and Santhali. (92nd Amendment) Official Language: The Constitution ordained Hindi in the Devanagari Script as the common language for all over India and Arabic  numerals as the common numbers. English was to be retained as an official language until 1963, when it was to be replaced by Hindi completely. Rupee Joins Elite Currency Club : July 15, 2010 turned out to be a historical day, as the Indian Rupee got the much awaited symbol, just like other leading currencies of the world Viz-Dollar, Euro Pound Sterling and the Yen. The new symbol is an amalgamation of Devanagari ‘Ra’, and the Roman ‘R’, without the stem. Till now, the rupee was written in various abbreviated forms in different languages.