The world’s largest coastal mangrove forest is the Sundarbans, which stretches for almost 15,540 km² (6,000 miles²) across India and Bangladesh, and acts as a natural barrier against tsunamis and cyclones that often blow in from the Bay of Bengal. With saltwater-tolerant roots, this forest’s mangrove trees sometimes exceed 21 m (70 ft) in height above islands of layered sand and grey clay, which have been deposited by rivers that flow for over 1,000 miles from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.

The largest collection of airline boarding passes belongs to K. Ullas Kamath (India) and consists of 3,030 passes as verified in Bangalore, India, on 15 August, 2014. Mr. Kamath’s collection has been steadily growing for the past 15 years. His collection comprises 35 different airlines, with his favourite being Jet Airways of India (with a total of 1,896 flights). His favourite seat is 2A, a business class window seat, of which he happens to have tickets for 1,034 flights. Over the 15 year period, he Continue reading →

The largest collection of banknotes belongs to Anil Bohora (India), with a total of 10,025 different banknotes, as of 13 January 2009.

Dilish Parekh of Mumbai, India has a collection of 4,425 antique cameras that he has amassed since 1977 Dilish, who works as a photo journalist has within his collection cameras made by Rolliflex, Canon, Nikon and a Royal Mail Postage stamp camera that dates back to 1907

Nikunj R. Vagadia (India) has amassed a collection of 258 different miniature books since 1988, as of 22 November 2009. His smallest miniature book measures 19 x 27 mm (0.7 x 1 in) and the largest 47 x 55 mm (1.8 x 2.1 in). His collection includes a miniature book of ‘Shreemad Bhawag Gita’ which was printed in 1901, and a miniature autobiography of Gandhi plated with 24 carats gold.

The largest collection of phonecards belongs to Sunil Joseph (India) and consists of 5,986 different phonecards as of 28 January 2013, in Peermade, Kerala, India. Sunil Joseph has been collecting telephone cards since 1997 and has a collection from 245 countries.

M. Prakash (India) has 625 different types of radio that he has collected since the 1970’s. The smallest radio in his collection is in the shape of a bottle cap and measures just 4 cm (1.57 in) wide.

The largest collection of stamps featuring birds belongs to Daniel Monteiro (India) and consists of 4,911 stamps from 263 countries, as of 24 December 2011, in Brahmavar, Karnataka State, India. Daniel Monteiro started collecting stamps at the age of 11 in 1973. He specialises in water birds.

The `Snake Boat’ Aries Punnamada Urukku Chundan, measuring 43.7 m (143 ft 4 in) long from Alleppey, Kerala, India, had a crew of 143 which included 118 rowers, 2 rhythm men, 5 helmsmen and 18 singers and was rowed in public in Kerala, India, on 1 May 2008. Unusually the Snake Boat is constructed from steel, the common material is wood. The boat measures 43.7 m (143 ft 4 in) long, 0.71 m (2 ft 4 in) deep and weighs 8 tonnes. The boat took Continue reading →

The largest crocodilian in the world is the estuarine or saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), which ranges throughout the tropical regions of Asia and the Pacific. The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa State, India, houses four protected estuarine crocodiles measuring more than 6 m (19 ft 8 in) in length, the largest being over 7 m (23 ft) long. There are several unauthenticated reports of specimens up to 10 m (33 ft) in length. Adult males average 4.2–4.8m (14–16 ft) in length and weigh about 408–520kg Continue reading →