Our country is called India, and it's also known as Bharat. The Greeks called us India, and the people who lived here called it Bharat or Bharatvarsha.
The name India comes from the Sindhu River, which flows in the northwest part of our country. The Greeks called us Indoi, which means the people of the Indus River.
The name Bharat comes from a legendary king named Bharat, who was the ancestor of the Kauravas and Pandavas.He was the child of a king named Dushyanta and a woman named Shakuntala.
Shakuntala was a girl who was protected by a bird named Shakunt in the forest. She got her name from that bird.
Once, King Dushyant met Shakuntala in the forest while he was hunting. He liked her a lot and they decided to get married.. They had a special kind of marriage called Gandharva Vivah.
Dushyant gave Shakuntala a ring as a symbol of their marriage and said she could come to his kingdom whenever she wanted.
But later, because of a curse from a sage named Durvasa, Dushyant forgot about Shakuntala. He only remembered her when he saw the ring she had lost in a lake.
Shakuntala gave birth to a boy in the forest, and later, King Dushyant found them. The boy was named Bharat, and he became a great king who ruled all of India.
That's why our country is called Bharatvarsha or Bharata, after King Bharat.
Loading image...
Also Read- Why India’s government wants to change the country’s name to Bharat ?