Art & Culture Mixed Quiz: Set 38

The correct answer is A, Azad Bhavan in New Delhi. The building is named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who founded the Council on 9 April 1950 and was its first President, and it houses the body that runs India's cultural centres abroad, the scholarship schemes for foreign students and the chairs of Indian studies in foreign universities. Option B is wrong because Rabindra Bhavan holds the three national academies, the Sangeet Natak, Sahitya and Lalit Kala Akademis. Option C is wrong because Jaipur House is the home of the National Gallery of Modern Art, which opened in 1954. Option D is wrong because Teen Murti Bhavan, the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister, houses the museum and library named after him. A second fact worth attaching here is that the Council answers to the Ministry of External Affairs and not the Ministry of Culture.

The correct answer is A, Maharashtra. The Aga Khan Palace stands at Pune in Maharashtra. It was built in 1892 by Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan III, partly as famine relief work for the surrounding villages, and it mixes Italianate arches with wide Indian verandahs over five acres of built space. The palace entered the freedom struggle in August 1942, when the colonial government used it as a detention centre during the Quit India movement and interned Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and Gandhi's secretary Mahadev Desai there. Both Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai died in confinement at the palace, and their samadhis stand in its garden. Aga Khan IV donated the building to India in 1969 and it now houses the Gandhi National Memorial. Option B is wrong because Uttar Pradesh is associated with colonial buildings such as the Muir College and the Lucknow Residency, not this palace. Option C is wrong because Kerala's colonial heritage is Dutch and Portuguese, as at Bolgatty Palace in Kochi. Option D is wrong because Madhya Pradesh has no building of this name.

The correct answer is B, Thanjavur. The Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswathi Mahal Library stands within the Thanjavur palace complex in Tamil Nadu. It began as the royal library of the Nayak rulers, was greatly enlarged by the Maratha ruler Serfoji II in the early nineteenth century and holds palm-leaf and paper manuscripts in Tamil, Sanskrit, Marathi and Telugu on medicine, music, architecture and literature. Option A is wrong because Madurai is known for the Meenakshi Amman temple and the Gandhi Memorial Museum, not for this library. Option C is wrong because Kanchipuram is the city of temples and silk weaving. Option D is wrong because Tiruchirappalli is known for the Rockfort temple and the Srirangam temple island. In exams the library is almost always paired with Thanjavur and with Serfoji II, so remember both names together.

The correct answer is A, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Council was founded on 9 April 1950 by Azad, independent India's first Education Minister, who also became its first President; its headquarters in New Delhi is named Azad Bhavan after him. Its work is cultural diplomacy: Indian cultural centres abroad, scholarships for foreign students, chairs of Indian studies, the Distinguished Indologist Award and journals in several languages. Option B is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru was the first President of the Sahitya Akademi, a different body of the same decade. Option C is wrong because Dr S. Radhakrishnan, as Vice-President, inaugurated the Sangeet Natak Akademi in January 1953 but did not found the Council. Option D is wrong because C. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India and later a political leader in Madras, with no founding role here.

The correct answer is A, Victorian Gothic. The station, built as Victoria Terminus and designed by Frederick William Stevens, is the finest Victorian Gothic Revival building in India, with pointed arches, a ribbed central dome, turrets, stained glass, gargoyles and a stone figure of Progress on the dome. It was completed in 1888 as the headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004; the wider precinct around it was inscribed in 2018 as the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai. Option B is wrong because Baroque in India means the Portuguese churches of Old Goa, such as the Basilica of Bom Jesus. Option C is wrong because Dravidian is the temple style of the south, marked by a vimana and a gopuram, as at Thanjavur. Option D is wrong because Nagara is the north Indian temple style with a curvilinear shikhara, as at Khajuraho.

The correct answer is B, Mount Abu. The Dilwara group of five marble temples stands on Mount Abu in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan, in the Aravalli range, and belongs to the Solanki period; the Vimal Vasahi is dedicated to Adinath and the Luna Vasahi to Neminath, and both are famous for ceilings and pillars carved as fine as lace. Option A, Ranakpur, is also in Rajasthan and has the four-faced or Chaumukha temple of Adinath with its forest of carved pillars, but it is a separate site. Option C, Palitana on the Shatrunjaya hills in Gujarat, holds the largest cluster of Jain temples in India. Option D, Girnar near Junagadh in Gujarat, is another major Jain tirtha. Learning Dilwara and Ranakpur with Rajasthan and Palitana and Girnar with Gujarat settles most questions of this kind.

The correct answer is B, Chola. The workshops of the Kaveri delta produced their finest images under Chola rule, and the term Chola bronze is used for the whole class of processional icons cast in that period at centres connected with Thanjavur, Chidambaram, Tiruvarur and Tiruvenkadu. Royal women were among the chief patrons, and the queen Sembiyan Mahadevi is named in inscriptions as a donor of metal images. Option A is wrong only in degree: bronze casting did begin in Tamil Nadu under the Pallavas in the eighth and ninth centuries, but the Pallava output is smaller and stiffer, and the question asks for the peak. Option C is wrong because the Pandyas of Madurai are better remembered for temple gopurams than for bronzes. Option D is wrong because the Cheras of Kerala belong to an earlier Sangam phase and to a different craft tradition. The period and the dynasty are asked together, so fix the tenth to twelfth century with the Cholas.

The correct answer is B, the Mahabodhi Temple Complex. It stands at Bodh Gaya in Bihar beside the Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment, and the teaching he then carried to the world is tied to this spot; a shrine was first raised here in Ashoka's time and the tall brick temple that survives belongs to the Gupta period, with the site inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2002. Option A is wrong because Humayun's Tomb in Delhi is a Mughal garden tomb of the sixteenth century. Option C is wrong because the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak in the Delhi Sultanate period. Option D is wrong because the Red Fort was built by Shah Jahan. Only one option in the set is Buddhist at all, which is the shortcut in such questions.

The correct answer is C, Kolkata. The National Council of Science Museums was set up in 1978 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture with its headquarters at Kolkata, and it runs the network of science centres and science cities across the country. Its oldest unit is the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum at Kolkata, which opened in 1959 as India’s first science museum. Option A is wrong because New Delhi has the National Science Centre, a unit of the Council, but not its headquarters. Option B is wrong because Bengaluru has the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, again a unit and not the headquarters. Option D is wrong because Mumbai has the Nehru Science Centre, the largest interactive science centre in India, which is likewise only a unit of the Council. Remember that the unit and the headquarters are different things.

The correct answer is C, Tamil Nadu. In Villu Pattu a large bow is set over an earthen pot and struck as a percussion instrument while the lead singer narrates a story from mythology or local history and a chorus answers him; the form is strongest in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu and in the neighbouring parts of Kerala. Option A, Kerala, has Sopana Sangeetham sung on temple steps, the boat song Vanchipattu and the Mappila Pattu of the Malabar coast. Option B, Karnataka, has Bhavageete and the sung theatre of Yakshagana. Option D, Andhra Pradesh, has Burrakatha, which is also a narrative form with a drum, so it is the closest trap; the difference is that Burrakatha uses the tambura and the burra drum, not a bow.

The correct answer is C, Edwin Lutyens. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the Viceroy House on Raisina Hill, renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan after independence, and it was completed in 1929. The building has about 340 rooms, a copper central dome drawn from the Sanchi stupa railing, a Durbar Hall under that dome, carved elephants, chhajjas that throw off the monsoon and chhatris on the roofline, all set on a classical plan. Lutyens also laid out the plan of New Delhi and designed the India Gate. Option A is wrong because Herbert Baker, who worked alongside Lutyens, designed the North and South Blocks of the Secretariat and the circular Parliament House. Option B is wrong because Robert Tor Russell designed Connaught Place and the Eastern and Western Courts. Option D is wrong because Henry Irwin worked in the south and in Shimla, designing the Amba Vilas Palace at Mysuru and the Viceregal Lodge.

The correct answer is B, 21 June. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on 11 December 2014 declaring 21 June the International Day of Yoga, and the day was observed for the first time in 2015. The date was chosen because 21 June is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, a day of special significance in Indian tradition. Option A is wrong because 21 March is the spring equinox and is observed as International Day of Forests and World Poetry Day. Option C is wrong because 10 April is World Homoeopathy Day, kept on the birthday of Samuel Hahnemann. Option D is wrong because 7 April is World Health Day, which marks the founding of the World Health Organization.

The correct answer is A, Apasmara. The dwarf is Apasmara, also called Muyalakan in Tamil, and he personifies ignorance and forgetfulness; by pressing him down with the right foot while dancing the ananda tandava, Shiva shows that knowledge subdues the darkness of the mind. The whole group stands on a lotus pedestal inside a ring of flames known as the tiruvasi or prabhamandala, which represents the cosmos. Option B is wrong because Nandi is the bull mount of Shiva and is shown seated facing the sanctum, never trampled. Option C is wrong because Bhringi is a devotee of Shiva shown in the retinue, usually as a thin three-legged figure. Option D is wrong because Chandesha, or Chandeshvara, is the guardian of temple property in Shaiva temples and has a shrine of his own. The dwarf, the ring of flames and the four attributes are the four details a paper setter picks from this image.

The correct answer is B, France. Le Corbusier is counted as a French architect. He was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret in Switzerland in 1887, settled in Paris, took French citizenship in 1930 and worked from France for the rest of his life. Jawaharlal Nehru brought him to India to plan Chandigarh, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, after the first planner Albert Mayer and his architect Matthew Nowicki left the project. Le Corbusier laid the city out in numbered sectors on a grid and designed the Capitol Complex in Sector 1 — the High Court, the Secretariat, the Legislative Assembly and the Open Hand monument — which UNESCO added to its World Heritage list in 2016. Option A is wrong because Germany is the home of the Bauhaus school and Walter Gropius, not of Le Corbusier. Option C is wrong because Italy is linked with Renaissance architects such as Brunelleschi and Palladio. Option D is wrong because Spain is known for Antoni Gaudí of Barcelona. Exam tip: Chandigarh — Le Corbusier; New Delhi — Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.

The correct answer is B, Herbert Baker. Sir Herbert Baker designed the old Parliament House, then called the Council House, which was begun in 1921 and opened in January 1927 by the Viceroy Lord Irwin. Its circular plan carries an open colonnade of sandstone columns and three chambers inside for the Council of State, the Central Legislative Assembly and the Chamber of Princes. Baker also designed the North Block and the South Block of the Secretariat that flank the approach to Raisina Hill. Option A is wrong because Lutyens designed the Viceroy House and the India Gate and planned the city, though he and Baker disagreed sharply over the gradient of the approach road. Option C is wrong because Emerson designed the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. Option D is wrong because Major Charles Mant worked on Indo-Saracenic princely palaces, including the Laxmi Vilas Palace at Vadodara.

The correct answer is B, All-India War Memorial. India Gate was built as the All-India War Memorial to honour soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in the First World War and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War of 1919. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the chief architect of New Delhi. The Duke of Connaught laid its foundation stone in 1921, and it was completed in 1931. The names of thousands of soldiers are carved on its walls. In 1972, after the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was added beneath the arch. Option A is wrong because the Afghan war is only one of the wars it remembers, and that was never its name. Option C is wrong because 'Archway of Delhi' is just a description, not an official name. Option D is wrong because the memorial honours the Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army, not only British soldiers. Exam tip: India Gate = All-India War Memorial, designed by Lutyens, built 1921–1931.

The correct answer is B, the damaru. The upper right hand of Nataraja holds the damaru, the small hour-glass shaped drum whose beat stands for the sound from which creation begins. The upper left hand balances it with agni, the flame in a cup or on the palm, standing for destruction, so the two upper hands together carry the cycle of creation and dissolution. The lower right hand is raised in abhaya mudra, the gesture of protection, and the lower left sweeps across the chest in gajahasta, the elephant-trunk gesture, pointing towards the raised left foot that promises release. Option A is wrong because agni is in the upper left hand, and swapping the two is the commonest error in this question. Option C is wrong because the trident belongs to standing and seated forms of Shiva, not to this dancing form. Option D is wrong because the conch is an attribute of Vishnu.

The correct answer is C, the Portuguese. The Basilica of Bom Jesus at Old Goa was completed in 1605 by the Portuguese, who had taken Goa in 1510 and made it the capital of their eastern empire. Its laterite facade in the Baroque manner, its gilded altar and the silver casket holding the body of St Francis Xavier make it the most visited church in India, and it was inscribed by UNESCO in 1986 within the Churches and Convents of Goa. Option A is wrong because the Dutch built trading posts and the Bolgatty Palace at Kochi in 1744, not the Goan churches. Option B is wrong because the Danes built Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar in 1620 and a mission at Serampore. Option D is wrong because the French built in Puducherry, Chandernagore and Mahe, where the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is Gothic rather than Baroque.

The correct answer is A, Birmingham. The image was dug up in 1861 at Sultanganj in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar during railway work, stands over two metres high, and was cast in copper in the transition between the Gupta and Pala periods. It was taken to England soon after its discovery and is displayed in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which is why it appears in questions on Indian antiquities held abroad. Option B is wrong because the Government Museum at Chennai holds the great collection of Chola bronzes, not this Buddha. Option C is wrong because the Patna Museum holds the Didarganj Yakshi in stone and the Chausa bronze hoard, which are different objects often confused with it. Option D is wrong because the Indian Museum at Kolkata, the oldest museum in India, holds the Bharhut railings and other sculpture but not the Sultanganj figure. Link the find spot in Bihar with the present home in England.

The correct answer is B, Tamil Nadu. Fort Dansborg was built in 1620 at Tranquebar, now Tharangambadi in the Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu, after the Danish East India Company obtained the site from the Nayak ruler of Thanjavur. It is the second largest Danish fort anywhere and served as the seat of Danish India until the settlement was sold to the British in 1845. Option A is wrong because Kerala's European forts are Portuguese and Dutch, such as Fort Emmanuel at Kochi and the Dutch Palace at Mattancherry. Option C is wrong because the Danish site in Bengal was Serampore, a mission town rather than a fort, and the main Bengal fort was the British Fort William. Option D is wrong because Odisha's coastal trade posts were Dutch and British, and no Danish fort stands there.