Over 60 records from India in Guinness Book 2024, rain in Cherrapunji among oldest entry

PTI, Oct 14, 2023, 1:59 PM IST

The latest edition of the Guinness World Records has 2,638 achievements from around the world, including over 60 from India with the entry on rainfall in Meghalaya’s Cherrapunji being one of the oldest.

Distributed in India by Penguin Random House, the book has nine fact-packed chapters – Blue Planet, Aquatic Life, Humans, Recordology, Adventures, History, Science and Technology, Arts and Media, and Sports – and five special features: Hall of Fame, Young Achievers, Gaming, Explainers, and Bucket List.

The 2024 edition is the final instalment in the partnership with award-winning artist Rod Hunt. According to the publishers, completing the illustrated Guinness World Records universe, the cover artwork takes readers on a deep-sea odyssey to the bottom of the ocean.

Among the oldest records involving India is related to rainfall.

On June 15-16, 1995, Cherrapunji, a high-altitude town in Meghalaya, received 2.493 m (8 ft 2 in) of rain over the complete 48-hour period, the record book says.

”While this normally means that the region gets a high level of annual rainfall, this is the most extreme 48-hour period on record – as verified by the World Meteorological Organisation,” it says.

”For a calendar month, the record is 9,300 mm (366 in) at Cherrapunji in July 1861 and the 12-month record was also set at Cherrapunji, with 26,461 mm (1,041.75 in) between August 1, 1860 and July 31, 1861,” it adds. Between August 1, 1860 and July 31, 1861, a total of 26,470 mm (1,042 in) of rain fell at Cherrapunji, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

There is one record which holds good since 1937. It is Jalakanyaka (or Mermaid) by Indian sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman, the largest sculpture of a merperson in the world. Reclining in a shell-shaped pool at Shankumugham Beach in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, the concrete mermaid is 26.5 m (87 ft) long and 7.6 m (25 ft) tall. The shell within which she lies is approximately 32 m (105 ft) long.

The record for the first and fastest man and woman to have circumnavigated the earth by car, covering six continents under the rules applicable in 1989 and 1991 embracing more than an equator’s length of driving (24,901 road miles; 40,075km), is held by Saloo Choudhury and his wife Neena Choudhury.

The journey took 69 days 19 hours 5 minutes from September 9 to November 17, 1989. The couple drove a 1989 Hindustan ”Contessa Classic” starting and finishing in Delhi. Indian folk musician Thanga Darlong (b. 20 July 1920) was 98 years 319 days old when he was presented with the Padma Shri civilian award on June 4, 2019. Born at Muruai village in Tripura, Darlong is celebrated as the last tribal musician to play the ‘rosem’, a flute-like instrument made from wood, bamboo and a traditional water pot used by the state’s Darlong tribe.

The shortest woman living is Nagpur’s Jyoti Amge (born Dec 16, 1993), who measured 62.8 cm (24.7 in). The largest gathering of people born prematurely is 445 and was achieved by Rainbow Hospitals India, Indian Foundation for Premature Babies and Abbott Healthcare Pvt.Ltd (all India) at the Park Hyatt in Hyderabad on November 17, 2016.

The current longest-running sitcom on TV (by episode count) is ”Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah” (SAB TV), which has aired 3500 episodes, as of July 2, 2022.

The largest, tallest and most expensive private house in the world is businessman Mukesh Ambani’s 27-storey personal skyscraper Antilia.

Out of the 1,154 sites recognised by UNESCO, the Taj Mahal in Agra, is currently the most searched-for World Heritage Site racking up 1.4 million searches in the month of March 2022, according to a report published by Zitango Travel in April 2022.

Other record holders include Tamil Nadu’s J Jessica (most rotations of 213 of a hula hoop on one foot whilst in headstand position in one minute) and Rooba Ganesan (longest time of 1 hr 15 min 5 sec to hold the mermaid yoga pose); Aditya Pacholi of Madhya Pradesh (largest turban of 345.25 m²); and Guinness Rishi (most flags tattooed on the body at 366).

According to the edition’s editor in chief Craig Glenday, ”The GWR 2024 edition is the end product of a year in which nearly 30,000 applications were reviewed by our records managers. Only a small percentage of claims have made it through the selection process, so the 2,638 records featured in the book really are the cream of this year’s crop.” ”We’ve been inspired by our Blue Planet to celebrate a number of underwater records – including those set by the most impressive marine creatures, the most adventurous sailors, and even the most acrobatic mermaids! – but, as ever, we’ve covered the widest possible spectrum of record-breaking, from the hairiest humans to the most talented guinea pigs, the most dastardly pirates to the fastest rollercoasters, and the best-selling manga to the most celebrated athletes,” he added.