Art & Culture Previous Year Questions (PYQ) with Answers – Page 3

The correct answer is A, Taj Mahal. Pietra dura, an Italian term meaning hard stone, is the craft of cutting coloured semi-precious stones and setting them into marble to form flowers and creepers. Its finest Indian example is the Taj Mahal at Agra, built by Shah Jahan between 1632 and 1648 in memory of Mumtaz Mahal; the Indian name for the technique is parchin kari. Stones such as jasper, carnelian, lapis lazuli, jade and turquoise were used, and the same work appears in the Itmad-ud-Daulah tomb and the Red Fort. The Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Option B is wrong because India Gate in Delhi, designed by Edwin Lutyens, is a sandstone war memorial. Option C is wrong because the Charminar of Hyderabad, built by Quli Qutb Shah in 1591, is of granite and lime stucco. Option D is wrong because the Gateway of India in Mumbai, finished in 1924, is in the Indo-Saracenic style. Exam tip: pietra dura or parchin kari is Shah Jahan's marble inlay, at its best in the Taj Mahal.

The correct answer is A, Rajasthan. Dabu is a mud resist hand block printing craft of Rajasthan, practised mainly at Akola in Chittorgarh and at Bagru and Sanganer near Jaipur. A paste of clay, gum, lime and wheat chaff is stamped on the cloth with wooden blocks; the covered portions resist the dye, usually indigo, and stay pale while the rest takes colour. The cloth is washed and the mud falls away, leaving the pattern, and the steps are repeated for more colours. Rajasthan is also home to Bandhani tie and dye, Bagru and Sanganeri prints and Kota Doria weaving. Option B is wrong because Odisha is known for Ikat or Bandha tie and dye and Pattachitra painting. Option C is wrong because Andhra Pradesh is known for Kalamkari, printed and painted with a bamboo pen. Option D is wrong because Assam is known for Muga and Eri silk weaving. Exam tip: Dabu means mud resist, Bandhani means tie and dye, Kalamkari means pen work.

The correct answer is A, Maharashtra. Lavani is the best known folk dance of Maharashtra, performed by women in a nine-yard sari to the beat of the dholki. The name comes from the Marathi word lavanya, meaning beauty. It grew in the eighteenth century in the Peshwa period, when it entertained soldiers, and it is danced in the Tamasha theatre tradition with quick footwork and expressive lyrics. Other folk forms of Maharashtra are Tamasha, Povada, Dhangari Gaja and Koli. Option B is wrong because Rajasthan is known for Ghoomar, Kalbeliya, Chari and Bhavai. Option C is wrong because Gujarat is known for Garba, Dandiya Raas and Bhavai. Option D is wrong because Bihar is known for Jat-Jatin, Bidesia, Jhijhiya and Paika. Exam tip: link each dance to its state, Lavani with Maharashtra, Ghoomar with Rajasthan, Garba with Gujarat and Bidesia with Bihar.

The correct answer is A, Nagaland. The Hornbill Festival is held every year from 1 to 10 December at Kisama Heritage Village near Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. It is called the "Festival of Festivals" because all the major Naga tribes come together in one place to show their dances, songs, crafts, food and traditional games. The Nagaland government started it in 2000 to promote tourism and protect Naga heritage. It is named after the hornbill bird, which appears in many Naga folk tales and in their traditional headgear. The festival opens on 1 December, Nagaland's Statehood Day, as the state was formed on that day in 1963. B is wrong because Sikkim is known for Losar and Saga Dawa. C is wrong because Andhra Pradesh is known for Sankranti. D is wrong because Jammu and Kashmir is known for events such as the Tulip Festival in Srinagar. Exam tip: Hornbill = Nagaland (1 to 10 December, Kisama), Sangai = Manipur, Wangala = Meghalaya, Losar = Sikkim and Ladakh.

The correct answer is B, Rajasthan. Ghoomar is a folk dance of Rajasthan performed by women in long, flared skirts called ghaghras, who spin gracefully in circles. The name comes from 'ghoomna', meaning to twirl, and the swirling of the ghaghra is the heart of the dance. It was first developed by the Bhil tribe and later adopted by the Rajput royal families, and today it is danced at weddings and at festivals such as Teej and Gangaur. Rajasthan's other famous folk dances include Kalbeliya, the dance of the snake-charmer community that is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, Chari, Kachchhi Ghodi and Terah Taali. A is wrong because Gujarat's best-known folk dances are Garba and Dandiya Raas. C is wrong because Kerala is known for Kathakali, Mohiniyattam and the ritual art of Theyyam. D is wrong because Sikkim is known for dances such as Singhi Chham, the snow lion dance. Exam tip: Ghoomar and Kalbeliya = Rajasthan; Garba and Dandiya = Gujarat.

The correct answer is A, Baiju Bawra. Baiju, also called Baiju Nayak, was the leading singer at the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar in Gwalior and later served Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Raja Man Singh Tomar ruled Gwalior from 1486 to 1516 and is credited with shaping dhrupad, the oldest surviving style of Hindustani classical music. Baiju was a master of dhrupad, and legend makes him a rival of Tansen, a story retold in the 1952 film "Baiju Bawra". Gwalior's link with music continues today through the Tansen Samaroh held there every year. Option B is wrong because Tansen sang at the court of Raja Ramchandra of Rewa and then became one of the nine jewels of Akbar's court. Option C is wrong because Lal Kalawant was a disciple of Tansen who served at the Mughal court. Option D is wrong because Rang Khan Kalawant is not recorded at the courts of Man Singh Tomar or Bahadur Shah. Exam tip: Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior made dhrupad famous; Baiju sang there, and Tansen later shone at Akbar's court.

The correct answer is C, Kharosthi. Kharosthi was written from right to left, like the Aramaic script from which it grew. It was the script of Gandhara in the north-west, now in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was used roughly from the third century BCE to the third century CE, mostly for Prakrit. That is why two of Ashoka's major rock edicts, at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra, are in Kharosthi, while almost all his other edicts are in Brahmi. It spread along the Silk Road into Central Asia and then died out. Option A is wrong because Brahmi runs left to right and is the parent of Devanagari and most other Indian scripts. Option B is wrong because Sharada, the old script of Kashmir, grew out of Brahmi and is also written left to right. Option D is wrong because Nandinagari, a southern form of Nagari used for Sanskrit manuscripts, runs left to right as well. Exam tip: Kharosthi is the odd one out, right to left and found in the north-west; Brahmi is left to right and found almost everywhere else.

The correct answer is C, Mughal. Humayun's Tomb in Delhi is one of the earliest and finest examples of Mughal architecture.

The tomb was built in 1570 on the orders of Humayun's widow Bega Begum, also called Haji Begum, and the architect was Mirak Mirza Ghiyas of Persia. It was the first garden tomb in India, set in a charbagh, the four-part garden divided by water channels, and the first large structure to use red sandstone with white marble inlay and a high double dome. This plan became the model for the Taj Mahal built about eighty years later. UNESCO placed the tomb on the World Heritage list in 1993.

Option A is wrong because British architecture in India belongs to the colonial period after the eighteenth century. Option B is wrong because Chola architecture means Dravidian temples such as the Brihadeshwara temple at Thanjavur. Option D is wrong because Magadha is an ancient kingdom, not a style of tomb building.

Exam tip: Humayun's Tomb is the first garden tomb of India and the model for the Taj Mahal.

The correct answer is C, Man Singh. The Gujari Mahal at the foot of Gwalior Fort was built by Raja Man Singh Tomar, who ruled Gwalior from 1486 to 1516, for his favourite queen Mrignayani. She was a Gujar by birth, and that is how the palace got its name. Today the palace houses the State Archaeological Museum, famous for the graceful Shalbhanjika sculpture from Gyaraspur. Man Singh also built the Man Mandir palace inside the fort and was a great patron of Dhrupad music, so his court is linked with the growth of the Gwalior tradition of singing. Do not confuse him with Raja Man Singh of Amber, the Mughal general of Akbar’s time. Option A is wrong because Akbar’s buildings include Fatehpur Sikri and the Agra Fort, not this palace. Option B is wrong because Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort of Delhi. Option D is wrong because the builder is known and is listed in option C. Exam tip: Gujari Mahal, Gwalior, built by Man Singh Tomar for Queen Mrignayani.

The correct answer is C, Karnataka. Kambala is a traditional buffalo race of coastal Karnataka, held mainly in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, the Tulu Nadu region. Pairs of buffaloes, yoked together and driven by a farmer, race along two parallel tracks filled with slushy water in paddy fields. The season runs roughly from November to March, after the harvest, and the race began as a thanksgiving to local deities for a good crop. After a legal debate similar to the one over Jallikattu, Karnataka amended its animal cruelty law in 2017 so that Kambala could continue. A is wrong because Kerala is famous for its snake-boat races such as the Nehru Trophy Boat Race. B is wrong because Punjab is known for the Kila Raipur rural sports festival with bullock-cart races. D is wrong because Odisha is known for the Rath Yatra of Puri. Exam tip: Kambala = Karnataka (buffalo race), Jallikattu = Tamil Nadu (bull taming), Vallam Kali = Kerala (boat race), Kila Raipur = Punjab (rural Olympics).

The correct answer is C, Manipur. The Manipur Sangai Festival is held every year from 21 to 30 November to showcase the state's culture and tourism. It is named after the Sangai, the brow-antlered deer, which is Manipur's state animal and lives in the wild only in Keibul Lamjao National Park on Loktak Lake. This is the world's only floating national park, resting on floating mats of vegetation called phumdis. The festival features Manipuri classical dance, the Thang-Ta martial art, polo, local food and handloom and handicraft stalls. A is wrong because Gujarat is known for Navratri garba and the Rann Utsav. B is wrong because Assam is known for Bihu. D is wrong because Tamil Nadu is known for Pongal and Jallikattu. Exam tip: Sangai = Manipur (21 to 30 November), Hornbill = Nagaland (1 to 10 December), Kambala = Karnataka, Bihu = Assam; Loktak Lake's phumdis carry the floating Keibul Lamjao park.

The correct answer is B, Perini thandavam. Perini Shiva Thandavam is a vigorous warrior dance of Telangana, performed by men in praise of Lord Shiva. It flourished under the Kakatiya kings of Warangal, whose soldiers danced it before going to battle. Its steps are described in the Nritta Ratnavali, written in the thirteenth century by Jayapa Senani, a commander of the Kakatiya army, and dancers carved on the Ramappa Temple at Palampet show its poses. The form had almost died out until the dance scholar Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna revived it in the twentieth century. A is wrong because Bharatanatyam is the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. C is wrong because Sattriya is the classical dance of Assam, begun by Srimanta Sankardev in the Vaishnava monasteries called sattras. D is wrong because Mohiniyattam is the graceful solo dance of Kerala, performed by women. Exam tip: Telangana = Perini; Andhra Pradesh = Kuchipudi; Tamil Nadu = Bharatanatyam; Kerala = Kathakali and Mohiniyattam; Assam = Sattriya.