Art & Culture Mixed Quiz: Set 12

The correct answer is C, F. N. Souza. Francis Newton Souza founded the Progressive Artists Group at Bombay in 1947 along with S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, K. H. Ara, S. K. Bakre and H. A. Gade. The group broke with both academic realism and the revivalist mood of the Bengal School, and looked instead to modern European movements while keeping Indian subject matter, which makes it the starting point of modern Indian art.

Option A, Nandalal Bose, belonged to the earlier Bengal School and taught at Santiniketan. Option B, Jivya Soma Mashe, was the Warli tribal painter of Maharashtra who made the style known outside its villages. Option D, Nihal Chand, was the eighteenth century Kishangarh miniaturist who painted Bani Thani, separated from this group by two centuries.

The correct answer is A, Greece. The Gandhara School of Art, which grew in the north west around Taxila and Peshawar between the first and fifth centuries, was shaped by Greek or Hellenistic sculpture that had reached the region after Alexander's campaign and stayed on through the Indo Greek and Kushana rulers. That is why its Buddha figures have wavy hair, sharp features, a halo without decoration and heavy robes with deep folds, carved mostly in blue grey schist. The school also produced the first images of the Buddha in human form, alongside the Mathura school. Kanishka was its best known patron. B is wrong because Roman influence came later and in small measure, mainly through trade. C and D are wrong because Hungary and Belgium had no contact with ancient India. Exam tip: Gandhara Greek and grey schist, Mathura Indian and red sandstone, Amaravati white marble.

The correct answer is A, Odisha. The Lingaraja Temple stands in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, and is the largest temple in that city. It was built in the eleventh century, mainly under the Somavamshi ruler Jajati Keshari and completed by the Ganga rulers, and is dedicated to Shiva as Tribhuvaneshwara, the lord of three worlds. The temple is the finest example of the Kalinga or Nagara style of eastern India, with a tall curved tower about 55 metres high and four parts in a line: the vimana for the deity, the jagamohana or assembly hall, the natamandira for dance and the bhogamandapa for offerings. The deity here is worshipped as both Shiva and Vishnu, called Harihara. B is wrong because Karnataka is known for the Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebidu. C is wrong because Maharashtra has the rock-cut Kailasa temple at Ellora. D is wrong because Tamil Nadu has the Dravidian temples of Thanjavur and Madurai. Exam tip: Lingaraja Bhubaneswar, Kalinga style, with Mukteshwara and Rajarani temples in the same city.

The correct answer is B, Painting. Amritlal Vegad, born in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh in 1928, was a painter and collage artist who trained at Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan under Nandalal Bose, and later taught art in Jabalpur. He is remembered for collages made from torn pieces of coloured paper, and for the sketches and paintings with which he filled his Hindi travel writing on the Narmada, a river he walked along for thousands of kilometres. That is why Madhya Pradesh papers place him with the visual arts rather than the performing arts. Option A is wrong because he worked on flat surfaces in paper and colour, not in stone or metal. Option C is wrong because he was never a singer. Option D is wrong because he had no place in music; that misreading comes from grouping every artist under the performing arts. Exam tip: Vegad, Jabalpur, painting and collage, Narmada travelogues in Hindi.

The correct answer is D, Shah Jahan. The Jama Masjid of Delhi, whose formal name is Masjid-i-Jahan-Numa, was built by Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656 as the congregational mosque of his new capital Shahjahanabad. It is built of red sandstone and white marble, stands on a high plinth reached by broad flights of steps, and has two tall minarets and three domes. It is among the largest mosques in India.

Option A, Akbar, built in red sandstone at Fatehpur Sikri and Agra, but the Delhi Jama Masjid belongs to his grandson. Option B, Humayun, built the short lived Dinpanah and is remembered instead through the garden tomb raised for him after his death. Option C, Babur, ruled only from 1526 to 1530 and left very little building in India. The Jama Masjid belongs firmly to the marble and sandstone age of Shah Jahan, who also raised the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.

The correct answer is D, Mallika Sarabhai. She won the best actress award in 1975 for her role in the Gujarati film Meena Gurjari, early in a career that moved between cinema, theatre and dance. Trained by her mother Mrinalini Sarabhai in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, she is also known for playing Draupadi in Peter Brook's stage and screen production of The Mahabharata, and she runs the Darpana Academy in Ahmedabad. Option A is wrong because Sonal Mansingh is an Odissi and Bharatanatyam exponent honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, not a film actress. Option B is wrong because Sitara Devi was the Kathak dancer whom Rabindranath Tagore called Nritya Samragini, and her film work came in the 1940s. Option C is wrong because Shovana Narayan is a Kathak dancer who also served as an officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service. Exam tip: link Mallika Sarabhai with Darpana Academy and her mother Mrinalini Sarabhai.

The correct answer is B, Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. India's first four World Heritage Sites were inscribed together in 1983: the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in Uttar Pradesh, and the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra. The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in memory of Mumtaz Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna, and Agra Fort, raised in red sandstone by Akbar, stands a short distance upstream.

Option A is wrong because Khajuraho and Hampi were both inscribed in 1986. Option C mixes years, since the Sun Temple at Konark was inscribed in 1984 and the Elephanta Caves in 1987. Option D is later still, Sanchi in 1989 and the rock shelters of Bhimbetka in 2003. Only the 1983 group opens India's list, and Agra holds two of those four sites.

The correct answer is B, Goa. Ranmale is a folk theatre of Goa, performed mainly in the Sattari and Sanguem areas.

It is staged at night in the open during the Shigmo festival and around Holi, in front of a village temple. Men play all the roles, including the female ones, and the episodes are taken from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, tied together by a narrator, drums and the ghumot. Goa's other well known folk forms are Jagor, Dashavatara, Kalo and Khell, and Zagor is listed among its temple traditions.

Option A is wrong because West Bengal's folk theatre is Jatra. Option C is wrong as Jharkhand is known for Chhau and Paika. Option D is wrong because Chhattisgarh's forms are Nacha and Pandavani, the ballad style made famous by Teejan Bai.

Exam tip: Ranmale, Dashavatara and Jagor - Goa; Jatra - West Bengal; Nautanki - Uttar Pradesh; Tamasha - Maharashtra; Bhavai - Gujarat.

The correct answer is D, Assam. The Ambubachi Mela is held every year at the Kamakhya temple on Nilachal hill in Guwahati, Assam. It falls in the month of Ahaar, around the middle of June, and marks the belief that the goddess goes through her yearly cycle of menstruation, so the temple doors stay shut for three days and open on the fourth with the distribution of red cloth as prasad. Thousands of sadhus, tantriks and pilgrims gather for it, which is why the fair is sometimes called the Mahakumbh of the East. Kamakhya is counted among the Shakti Peethas. A is wrong because Kerala is known for the Thrissur Pooram and the Nehru Trophy boat race. B is wrong because Gujarat is known for the Rann Utsav and Tarnetar fair. C is wrong because Sikkim holds festivals such as Losar and Pang Lhabsol. Exam tip: Ambubachi, Kamakhya temple, Guwahati, June.

The correct answer is C, Amritsar. Sri Harmandir Sahib, popularly called the Golden Temple, stands in Amritsar in Punjab and is the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. The fourth Guru, Ram Das, had the sacred tank dug and the city grew around it, taking its name Amritsar from the pool of nectar; the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev, built the shrine and installed the Adi Granth there in 1604. Maharaja Ranjit Singh later covered its upper storeys with gold leaf, which gave the temple its popular name. It has a door on each of its four sides to show that it is open to people of every caste and faith, and its community kitchen feeds thousands every day. A is wrong because Manali is a hill town in Himachal Pradesh. B is wrong because Patna has Takht Sri Patna Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, which is a different shrine. D is wrong because Jalandhar has no such temple. Exam tip: Amritsar founded by Guru Ram Das; Harmandir Sahib built by Guru Arjan Dev; Akal Takht stands beside it.

The correct answer is C, Nyaya. Maharishi Gautama, also called Akshapada Gautama, founded the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy and wrote its basic text, the Nyaya Sutra. Nyaya is the school of logic: it holds that right knowledge is the way out of suffering, and it lays down four means of valid knowledge, namely perception, inference, comparison and reliable testimony. Its careful rules of debate and proof were used by every other school, which is why Nyaya is called the doorway to Indian philosophy. It is counted among the six orthodox or astika systems along with Samkhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta. A is wrong because Samkhya was founded by Maharishi Kapila, who explained the world through Purusha and Prakriti. B is wrong because Yoga is credited to Patanjali and his Yoga Sutra. D is wrong because Vaisheshika was founded by Kanada, who built an early atomic theory. Exam tip: Kapila Samkhya, Patanjali Yoga, Gautama Nyaya, Kanada Vaisheshika, Jaimini Mimamsa, Badarayana Vedanta.

The correct answer is D, Golconda Fort. Golconda in Hyderabad was the capital of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, which ruled the Golconda Sultanate from 1518, when Quli Qutb Shah broke away from the Bahmani kingdom. The fort stands on a granite hill and is famous for its acoustics, since a clap at the Fateh Darwaza can be heard at the pavilion on top, and for the diamond trade that passed through it, including the Koh-i-Noor. In 1591 Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah founded the city of Hyderabad and built the Charminar, moving the capital there; Aurangzeb finally took Golconda in 1687. Option A is wrong because Chiktan Fort stands in Ladakh. Option B is wrong because Rajgad in Maharashtra was an early capital fort of Shivaji. Option C is wrong because the Red Fort was built by Shah Jahan in Delhi. Exam tip: Qutb Shahi rulers held Golconda and then Hyderabad; the Charminar was built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591.

The correct answer is D, Golconda. Golconda Fort near Hyderabad in Telangana was first raised as a mud fort by the Kakatiya rulers of Warangal in the thirteenth century. The Bahmani sultans took it later, and the Qutb Shahi kings rebuilt it in granite in the sixteenth century, adding the long walls, the eight gates and the palaces seen today. The fort is famous for its acoustics: a clap at the Fateh Darwaza can be heard at the pavilion on the hilltop, a signal once used to warn the garrison. The diamond mines around it, such as Kollur, made Golconda a great market for stones like the Koh-i-Noor and the Hope diamond. A is wrong because Panhala in Kolhapur is linked with the Shilaharas and later with Shivaji. B is wrong because Raigad was Shivaji's capital fort in Maharashtra. C is wrong because Neemrana in Rajasthan was a Chauhan fort. Exam tip: Golconda, a Kakatiya mud fort rebuilt by the Qutb Shahis, known for diamonds and acoustics.

The correct answer is B, Only two. Bhaja is a Buddhist cave site and Sittanavasal a Jain one, but Besnagar has no Shaivite cave shrine. Besnagar, near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, is known for the Heliodorus pillar of about 113 BCE, a Garuda pillar set up by a Greek envoy who called himself a devotee of Vasudeva, so its link is Vaishnava. Bhaja, near Lonavala in Maharashtra, has some of the earliest Buddhist rock-cut chaityas and viharas, from about the second century BCE. Sittanavasal, near Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu, is a Jain cave, the Arivar Koil, famous for its paintings of a lotus pond. So pair 1 is wrong and pairs 2 and 3 are right. Option A is wrong because two pairs match, not one. Option C is wrong because Besnagar is not a Shaivite cave site. Option D is wrong because Bhaja and Sittanavasal are correctly matched. Exam tip: Besnagar means Heliodorus and Vasudeva; Bhaja is Buddhist, Sittanavasal is Jain.

The correct answer is D, Abanindranath Tagore. He painted 'My Mother', a portrait done in the soft wash technique he made famous.

Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) was a nephew of Rabindranath Tagore and the founder of the Bengal School of Art. That movement turned Indian painters away from European academic realism and back to Mughal, Rajput and Ajanta traditions. His best known canvas is 'Bharat Mata', painted in 1905 during the Swadeshi movement, and he also wrote children's classics such as 'Kshirer Putul'.

Option A, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, was a novelist who wrote 'Anandamath', not a painter. Option B, Debendranath Tagore, was a Brahmo Samaj leader and Rabindranath's father. Option C, Nandalal Bose, was Abanindranath's pupil, and he is remembered for illustrating the original manuscript of the Constitution and for the Haripura posters.

Exam tip: Abanindranath Tagore - Bengal School, 'Bharat Mata' and 'My Mother'; Nandalal Bose - Constitution illustrations.

The correct answer is D, a - iv, b - i, c - ii, d - iii. The Champakkulam Moolam boat race is held on the Pampa river in Alappuzha, Kerala, and is the oldest snake-boat race in the state. The Somnath fair is held at the Somnath temple in Gujarat on Kartik Purnima, where pilgrims gather at the first of the twelve Jyotirlingas. The Surajkund crafts fair takes place every February at Surajkund in Faridabad, Haryana, and brings craftspeople from India and abroad together under a theme state each year. The Baneshwar fair is a tribal fair of the Bhils held at Dungarpur in Rajasthan, where the Som and Mahi rivers meet. Option A is wrong because it sends the Somnath fair to Rajasthan and the Baneshwar fair to Haryana. Option B is wrong because it places the boat race in Rajasthan. Option C is wrong because it moves the Somnath fair to Haryana and Surajkund to Gujarat. Exam tip: Champakkulam - Kerala, Somnath - Gujarat, Surajkund - Haryana, Baneshwar - Rajasthan.

The correct answer is D, Deogarh. The Dashavatara Temple stands at Deogarh in the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, on the banks of the Betwa, and was built of stone around the sixth century in the late Gupta period. It is dedicated to Vishnu and is named after the ten incarnations shown on its walls, where the panels of Sheshashayi Vishnu, Nara-Narayana and Gajendramoksha are the best known. The temple is the earliest surviving example in north India of the Panchayatana plan, in which the main shrine stands on a raised platform with four smaller shrines at the corners, and it also carries an early curved shikhara that leads on to the Nagara style. A is wrong because Nachna-Kuthara in Madhya Pradesh has the Parvati temple, not this one. B is wrong because Bhitargaon near Kanpur is the well-known Gupta temple built of brick. C is wrong because Tigawa in Madhya Pradesh has the small flat-roofed Kankali Devi temple. Exam tip: Deogarh Dashavatara, stone, Panchayatana; Bhitargaon, brick; both Gupta work.

The correct answer is C, 73. The Qutub Minar in Mehrauli, Delhi, rises to about 72.5 metres, which is taken as 73 metres in answer keys. It is the tallest brick minaret of its kind, tapering from a base diameter of roughly 14.3 metres to about 2.7 metres at the top, and it is climbed inside by a spiral staircase of around 379 steps. Qutb-ud-din Aibak began it, Iltutmish added storeys, and Firoz Shah Tughlaq repaired the upper part after lightning damage, which is why the material changes from red sandstone below to marble and sandstone above.

Options A, B and D give 75, 77 and 71 metres. All three are near misses put there to test whether the figure has been memorised rather than guessed. Examiners like this monument because it also carries the Iron Pillar of Delhi in the same complex, along with the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the Alai Darwaza.

The correct answer is A, Khangchendzonga National Park. This park in Sikkim was inscribed in 2016 under both the natural and the cultural criteria, which makes it India's only mixed site. It was recognised for its glaciers, forests and rare high-altitude wildlife and also for the sacred meaning the mountain holds in the beliefs of the communities living around it, where peaks, caves, rivers and lakes are worshipped.

Option B, the Great Himalayan National Park in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, was inscribed in 2014 as a purely natural site. Option C, Nanda Devi and the Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, is also natural, Nanda Devi from 1988 and the Valley of Flowers added in 2005. Option D, the Sundarbans in West Bengal, was inscribed in 1987 as a natural site for its mangrove ecosystem and its tigers, not for cultural value.

The correct answer is B, Seventh. Prophet Muhammad was born at Mecca in about 570 CE and began preaching the faith of Islam after his first revelation in about 610 CE, so the religion was founded in the seventh century. His migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, called the Hijra, marks the start of the Islamic calendar, and he died in 632 CE. The revelations were later compiled as the Quran. Islam reached the Indian subcontinent within decades, first through Arab traders on the Malabar and Konkan coasts and then with the Arab conquest of Sind under Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE. A is wrong because the sixth century ended before the Prophet began his mission. C is wrong because by the ninth century Islam had already spread from Spain to Central Asia. D is wrong because the eighth century saw the expansion of Islam, not its founding. Exam tip: Prophet Muhammad born about 570 CE, Hijra 622 CE, death 632 CE, Arab conquest of Sind 712 CE.