Highest, Longest and Largest in India: Static GK List

Every general awareness paper carries a handful of one-line superlatives: the highest peak, the longest river, the largest state, the biggest lake. They are free marks for a student who has memorised the list and a guaranteed loss for one who has not, because there is nothing to reason out. These notes gather the superlatives of India that stay put, arrange them by theme so that the neighbouring facts reinforce one another, and mark clearly the handful of records that keep changing and should be checked before they are quoted.

The land: peaks, plateaus and deserts

Kangchenjunga in Sikkim, 8,586 metres, is the highest mountain peak in India and the third highest in the world. Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand is the highest peak lying wholly within Indian-administered territory outside the Himalayan border ranges of the north-east, and Anamudi in Kerala, 2,695 metres, is the highest peak of peninsular India and of the Western Ghats. In the Eastern Ghats the highest point is Arma Konda in Andhra Pradesh. The Thar, also called the Great Indian Desert, spread over Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana, is the largest desert in the country. The Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram is the highest battlefield in the world, and Indira Point on Great Nicobar is the southernmost point of India.

Rivers, lakes and islands

The Ganga, about 2,525 kilometres long, is the longest river of India and the country's largest river basin drains into it. The Godavari, about 1,465 kilometres, is the longest river of peninsular India and is called the Dakshin Ganga; the Yamuna is the longest tributary of the Ganga, and the Narmada and the Tapi are the large west-flowing rivers that run through rift valleys and form estuaries rather than deltas. Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir is the largest freshwater lake in India, Chilika in Odisha the largest brackish water lagoon, Sambhar in Rajasthan the largest inland salt lake and Vembanad in Kerala the longest lake. The Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, the reservoir of the Rihand dam in Uttar Pradesh, is the largest artificial lake. Majuli on the Brahmaputra in Assam is the largest river island in India, and Kunchikal Falls in Karnataka is usually given as the highest waterfall, with Jog Falls on the Sharavathi the best known plunge fall.

States and administrative records

Rajasthan is the largest state by area and Goa the smallest; Ladakh is the largest union territory by area and Lakshadweep the smallest. By the figures of the 2011 Census, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state and Sikkim the least populous, Bihar has the highest population density among the states and Arunachal Pradesh the lowest, and Kerala has the highest literacy rate. Kachchh in Gujarat is the largest district by area. Gujarat has the longest coastline of any Indian state. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest area of any state in successive India State of Forest Reports, while Mizoram has the largest forest cover as a share of its own geographical area. Hemis in Ladakh is the largest national park in India.

Monuments and built structures

The Qutub Minar in Delhi, about 72.5 metres, is the tallest brick minaret in the world and the tallest stone tower in India. The Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri, built by Akbar to mark his Gujarat victory and standing about 54 metres above the ground, is the highest gateway in India. The Jama Masjid of Delhi, built under Shah Jahan, is the largest mosque in the country, and the Gol Gumbaz at Vijayapura in Karnataka, the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah, carries one of the largest domes in the world. The Kailasa temple at Ellora, carved downward out of a single rock, is the largest monolithic rock-cut temple, and the Ellora caves form the largest cave temple complex. The Se Cathedral at Old Goa is the largest church in Asia and the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh the largest Buddhist monastery in India. The Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat, showing Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and standing 182 metres, is the tallest statue in India. Among engineering works, the Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand, about 260 metres, is the highest dam in India, while the Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi in Odisha, running about 26 kilometres with its earthen dykes, is the longest. NH 44, which runs from Srinagar to Kanyakumari, is the longest national highway, about 3,745 kilometres. The Indian Museum in Kolkata, founded in 1814, is the oldest and largest museum in India, the Birla Planetarium in Kolkata the largest planetarium in Asia, and the Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur near Chennai the largest zoo.

The records that keep changing

A few superlatives in this chapter are not permanent, and a note that repeats an old figure will cost marks. The tallest building, the longest bridge, the longest road and rail tunnel, the longest railway platform, the highest motorable road, the largest solar park and the busiest airport are all overtaken every few years as new projects open. Learn the physical geography and the historic monuments as fixed answers, and treat the engineering records as things to refresh from a current government source before the exam. Where a paper asks such a record, it usually quotes the project by name, so knowing the project and its state matters more than the exact figure.