Skip to content
GK24
GK QuizArt & Culture

Art & Culture Mixed Quiz: Set 60

  • 20 questions
  • 20 minutes
  • Difficulty: Medium
Start Quiz

About this quiz

Set 60 of the Art & Culture mixed quiz has 20 multiple-choice questions from 17 different topics of the subject: Indian Classical Music, Traditional Cuisine and Famous Dishes of Indian States, Temple Architecture and more. 12 of them were asked in real previous-year papers. A topic quiz checks one chapter; this set revises the whole subject at once, the way an exam paper does, where the next question can come from any chapter. Every question carries an explanation of why the correct option is right and why the others are wrong. Keep to the timer, read the explanations at the end, and go back to the notes of any topic where you slipped.

Questions in this quiz

20 questions with answers and explanations

Q1.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKMedium

Renowned classical singer Prabha Atre, who passed away recently, was an exponent of which one of the following Gharanas?

  1. A.Kirana Gharana
  2. B.Patiala Gharana
  3. C.Gwalior Gharana
  4. D.Agra Gharana
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Kirana Gharana

Prabha Atre was trained in and sang in the Kirana style of Hindustani classical music. Prabha Atre (1932-2024) of Pune learned from Sureshbabu Mane and Hirabai Barodekar, both disciples of Abdul Karim Khan, the founder of the Kirana gharana.

Q3.Art & CultureAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2026, GATMedium

Consider the following statements :

I. The Kailasanatha temple of Kanchi is the earliest Pallava temple hewn from solid rock.

II. The Vaikuntha Perumal temple at Kanchi is a rare Pallava temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

  1. A.I only
  2. B.II only
  3. C.Both I and II
  4. D.Neither I nor II
Show answer
Correct answer: B. II only

The Kailasanatha temple of Kanchi is a structural temple built of stone blocks, not a temple cut out of solid rock, so statement I is wrong.

Q5.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2017, GKMedium

Consider the following : 1. Tughlaqabad Fort 2. Bada Gumbad in Lodhi Garden 3. Qutub Minar 4. Fatehpur Sikri Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of building the above monuments?

  1. A.3, 1, 4, 2
  2. B.3, 1, 2, 4
  3. C.1, 3, 2, 4
  4. D.1, 3, 4, 2
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 3, 1, 2, 4

The Qutub Minar came first, then Tughlaqabad Fort, then the Bada Gumbad of the Lodi period and last the Mughal city of Fatehpur Sikri.

Q7.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKMedium

Who propounded Kashmir Shaivism?

  1. A.Vasugupta
  2. B.Abhinavagupta
  3. C.Ramakantha
  4. D.Ranganathacharya
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Vasugupta

Kashmir Shaivism, a non-dual (Advaita) school of Shaiva philosophy, is traced to the sage Vasugupta, who lived in Kashmir around the late 8th or early 9th century CE.

Q8.Art & CultureMedium

The traditional daily kolam is drawn with rice flour mainly because:

  1. A.It lasts for several weeks without fading
  2. B.Ants, insects and birds can feed on it
  3. C.It is the only white material available in the south
  4. D.It hardens into a permanent coating on the floor
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Ants, insects and birds can feed on it

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…

Q9.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2024, GKHard

The royal portraits of Simhavishnu and Mahendravarman are found in which cave temple at Mamallapuram?

  1. A.Varaha Cave
  2. B.Ramanuja Cave
  3. C.Adivaraha Cave
  4. D.Trimurti Cave
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Adivaraha Cave

The Adivaraha cave temple at Mamallapuram has two rare royal portrait panels of the Pallava kings. One shows Simhavishnu seated between two queens, and the other shows his son Mahendravarman I standing with his two queens, with labels in the Pallava Grantha script naming them.

Q11.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKMedium

Which one of the following temples of India has won the 'UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit, 2017' for cultural heritage conservation?

  1. A.Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati
  2. B.Sri Ranganathaswami Temple, Srirangam
  3. C.Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
  4. D.Kedarnath Temple, Kedarnath
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Sri Ranganathaswami Temple, Srirangam

Its careful restoration earned the Award of Merit in UNESCO's Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, 2017. The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple stands on Srirangam, an island in the Kaveri near Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu.

Q12.Art & CultureMedium

The Harappan dockyard was found at which site, and by which archaeologist?

  1. A.Kalibangan, by B. B. Lal
  2. B.Lothal, by S. R. Rao
  3. C.Dholavira, by R. S. Bisht
  4. D.Rakhigarhi, by Amarendra Nath
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Lothal, by S. R. Rao

Lothal lies in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat on the Bhogava, and the baked brick basin found there, connected to the river by a channel, is generally identified as a dockyard, which makes Lothal the port town of the Harappan world; it also yielded a bead factory, a warehouse and the…

Q13.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2025, GKMedium

Which one among the following educational institutions established under the Union Ministry of Culture is promoting to preserve, protect and promote Lord Buddha's teaching and value of love, compassion and non-violence for developing good moral values and practices ?

  1. A.Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla
  2. B.National Council of Educational Research & Training, New Delhi
  3. C.Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda
  4. D.IGNOU, New Delhi
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda

It is a deemed university under the Union Ministry of Culture devoted to Pali language and Buddhist studies.

Q15.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2024, GKMedium

Which of the following statements related to Indian medicine system is not correct ?

  1. A.The Siddha system is a holistic system of medicine.
  2. B.Sowa-Rigpa has been in practice in the Himalayan regions of India.
  3. C.Unani system of medicine has been dissociated from the Ministry of Ayush.
  4. D.Sushruta Samhita is a major source of Ayurveda.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Unani system of medicine has been dissociated from the Ministry of Ayush.

This statement is false: Unani remains one of the systems under the Ministry of Ayush. AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, and Sowa-Rigpa was added to the family in 2010.

Q17.Art & CultureAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKMedium

Which of the following Gods are also known as Lokapalas or the Guardians of the Universe?

  1. A.Yama, Indra, Varuna and Kubera
  2. B.Indra, Varuna, Skanda and Kubera
  3. C.Indra, Varuna, Yama and Brahma
  4. D.Yama, Shiva, Kubera and Indra
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Yama, Indra, Varuna and Kubera

These four are the classical Lokapalas, each guarding one of the four main directions of the world. In Hindu tradition, as described in texts such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and in later iconography, Indra guards the east, Yama the south, Varuna the west and Kubera the north.

Q18.Art & CultureAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2017, GATMedium

Consider the following statements about the Nagara style of temple architecture :

1. This style of temples are commonly found in the areas between Himalayas and Vindhyas.

2. The most striking feature of this style is its pyramidal shikhara.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: A. 1 only

Nagara temples belong to north India, but their shikhara is curvilinear, not pyramidal. The Nagara style spread over the land between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas, from Gujarat and Rajasthan to Odisha.

View all quizzes