This Art & Culture quiz on Floor Art of India: Rangoli, Kolam, Alpana and Mandana puts 10 multiple-choice questions to you, the verified MCQs published with GK24's note on the topic. Every question carries a full explanation of why the correct option is right and why the other options are wrong, so you learn the fact behind the answer rather than the letter. Attempt it right after reading the note, keep to the timer, and use the explanations at the end to mark what needs another look. Sit it again before the exam as a quick revision of the topic.
10 questions with answers and explanations
The floor art known as kolam belongs chiefly to which state?
The kolam is the Tamil threshold drawing, made each morning in white rice flour on ground that has been swept and sprinkled.
Read the full explanation →Mandana, drawn in white chalk over a red ochre ground, is the traditional floor and wall art of:
Mandana reverses the usual method: the floor or the lower wall is first washed with geru, the red ochre of the region, and the design is then laid over it in white chalk or lime, so the figure is light on a red field.
Read the full explanation →Alpana, painted with a paste of ground rice, is associated with which state?
Alpana, or alpona, is applied wet: rice is soaked, ground into a white paste and painted on the floor with a cloth wick or with the fingers, which lets the artist draw flowing creepers, paddy sheaves, lotuses, owls and footprints.
Read the full explanation →The aipan art of white rice paste on a red geru ground belongs to which state?
In aipan the surface is first washed with geru, the local red ochre, and the pattern is then drawn on it with a white paste of ground rice using the fingers.
Read the full explanation →The pookalam, a carpet of flower petals laid on the ground, is made during which festival?
A pookalam is laid in concentric rings of petals, leaves and whole flowers, and a fresh one is made on each of the ten days of the festival, growing larger as the days pass, with competitions for the best design in schools, offices and neighbourhoods.
Read the full explanation →Aripan is the traditional floor art of which state?
Aripan, also written aripana, is drawn with a paste of ground rice on the floor of the courtyard, the place of worship and the marriage pavilion.
Read the full explanation →The floor patterns called jhoti or chita are drawn in which state?
Jhoti and chita are drawn with a thin white paste of ground rice, applied with a piece of cloth or with the fingertips, on the floor and the walls around the door.
Read the full explanation →Muggu or muggulu, with the gobbemma placed at its centre during Sankranti, is drawn in:
Muggu is the Telugu cousin of the Tamil kolam, drawn in rice flour or white powder before the door, often around a grid of dots.
Read the full explanation →Chowk purana, the courtyard and threshold pattern, is traditional in which region?
Chowk purana, also written chowkpurna, means the filling in of the chowk, the square of the courtyard.
Read the full explanation →The traditional daily kolam is drawn with rice flour mainly because:
Coarsely ground rice flour is pinched between finger and thumb and released in a thin stream, which makes it the easiest material to draw with, but the tradition gives a second reason: ants, insects, sparrows and squirrels eat the flour through the day, so the morning drawing is treated as…
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