Art & Culture Mixed Quiz: Set 8

The correct answer is C, Awadh. Kathak, the classical dance of north India, reached its golden age in the nineteenth century under Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, who ruled from Lucknow until the British annexed his kingdom in 1856. He was a dancer and composer himself, wrote under the pen name Akhtarpiya, created the dance drama Rahas, and supported Thakur Prasad and the brothers Bindadin and Kalka Prasad, whose family built the Lucknow gharana with its stress on grace, expression and thumri. Kathak's other schools are the Jaipur, Banaras and Raigarh gharanas. Option A is wrong because Hyderabad was ruled by the Nizams of the Asaf Jahi line. Option B is wrong because Rampur was a separate Rohilla state, remembered for the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of music, not for Kathak. Option D is wrong because Jaunpur was the Sharqi sultanate of the fifteenth century. Exam tip: Wajid Ali Shah goes with Awadh, the Lucknow gharana of Kathak and thumri.

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 A, Shehnai. The shehnai is called a mangal vadya, an instrument of auspicious occasions, because it is played at weddings, temple rituals and processions. It is a double-reed wind instrument with a wooden body and a metal bell at the end, and in classical music it belongs to the sushir or wind family. Ustad Bismillah Khan, who played the shehnai from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August 1947 and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, turned it into a concert instrument. Option B is wrong because the santoor is a trapezoid string instrument of Kashmir struck with light mallets, made famous by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Option C is wrong because the tabla is a pair of drums used for rhythm in Hindustani music. Option D is wrong because the damaru is a small two-headed drum linked with Lord Shiva. Exam tip: shehnai-Bismillah Khan, santoor-Shivkumar Sharma, sarod-Amjad Ali Khan.

The correct answer is A, Buddhism. The Great Stupa at Sanchi, in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, is one of the oldest Buddhist monuments in India. It was first built by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE as a brick mound over relics of the Buddha, and was later enlarged with a stone casing. Four richly carved gateways, or toranas, were added around the 1st century BCE; they show Jataka tales and scenes from the Buddha's life, in which the Buddha himself appears only through symbols such as the Bodhi tree, a wheel or footprints. The Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989. B is wrong because the stupa is not a Hindu shrine; famous Hindu temple sites include Khajuraho and Konark. C is wrong because famous Jain sites include Dilwara and Shravanabelagola. D is wrong because famous Islamic monuments include the Qutub Minar and the Jama Masjid. Exam tip: Sanchi stupa = Ashoka = Buddhism = Madhya Pradesh = UNESCO 1989.

The correct answer is B, Bihar. Madhubani painting, also called Mithila painting, belongs to the Mithila region of northern Bihar around the districts of Madhubani and Darbhanga. It was traditionally painted by women on the plastered walls and floors of the house for weddings and festivals, using natural dyes and a nib of bamboo wrapped in cloth, and it is now also done on paper and cloth. Its styles are Bharni, Katchni, Godna and Tantrik, and Sita Devi, Ganga Devi and Mahasundari Devi are its best known artists. It carries a Geographical Indication tag.

Option A, Uttar Pradesh, is not its home, though Mithila culture extends towards the Nepal border and not into the Doab. Option C, Kerala, is known for temple murals and Kathakali, not Madhubani. Option D, Tamil Nadu, is known for Tanjore painting with its gold foil, so it is the usual distractor in this question.

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 D, Garbhagriha. The garbhagriha, the womb house, is the small square windowless cell that holds the image of the presiding deity. Every other part of a temple is added around it: the tower rises over it, the hall stands in front of it and the circumambulatory passage runs around it. A shrine can exist with nothing but a garbhagriha, which is why texts and examiners call it the nucleus of the temple.

Option A, the gopuram, is the gateway tower in the enclosure wall of a South Indian temple; it is often the tallest structure but it is an entrance, not the shrine. Option B, the mandapam, is the pillared hall where devotees assemble, and large temples have several of them. Option C, the pradakshina patha, is only the passage left for circumambulation around the sanctum. All three are important, yet none of them houses the deity.

The correct answer is B, Bharia. Patalkot is a deep, horseshoe-shaped valley in the Tamia area of Chhindwara district, and most of its villages are home to the Bharia tribe. The valley floor lies more than a thousand feet below the surrounding Satpura plateau, so for a long time the Bharias lived almost cut off from the outside world, depending on the forest for food and herbal medicine. The Bharias of Patalkot are one of the three Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Madhya Pradesh, along with the Baiga and the Sahariya. Option A is wrong because the Bhil, the largest tribe of the state, live mainly in western districts such as Jhabua, Alirajpur and Dhar. Option C is wrong because the Khairwar are a separate tribe and not the main community of Patalkot. Option D is wrong because the Oraon belong mainly to the Chhotanagpur region of Jharkhand. Exam tip: Patalkot, Chhindwara, Bharia tribe, one of the three PVTGs of Madhya Pradesh with the Baiga and Sahariya.

The correct answer is D, twelfth. Qutb-ud-din Aibak began the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in 1192, soon after the second battle of Tarain, and the first phase was finished by about 1198, which falls in the last decade of the twelfth century. He laid the foundation of the Qutb Minar beside it in 1199, and Iltutmish completed the minaret. It is counted as the first mosque built in Delhi by the new sultanate, put together with stone taken from earlier temples on the site, which is why its pillars carry older Indian motifs. Iltutmish and later Alauddin Khalji enlarged the courtyard, and the fourth-century iron pillar of Chandra stands within it. Options A, B and C are wrong because the eleventh century is before the sultanate reached Delhi, while the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries cover the later additions rather than the original mosque. Exam tip: Tarain 1192, Quwwat-ul-Islam 1192-98, Qutb Minar begun 1199.

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 D, Jharkhand. Tusu Parab is the harvest festival of Jharkhand, kept at Makar Sankranti in mid-January when the winter paddy is in. Unmarried girls of the Kurmi, Santhal and other communities make a decorated bamboo-and-paper frame called a chaudal, carry the Tusu image in procession with folk songs known as Tusu geet, and immerse it in a river or pond at the end. Fairs are held along the Subarnarekha and Damodar, and the same festival is kept in the neighbouring Purulia belt. Option A is wrong because Gujarat marks the same season as Uttarayan, the kite-flying festival. Option B is wrong because Sikkim's harvest festivals are Namsoong and Losoong, kept by the Lepcha and Bhutia in December. Option C is wrong because Karnataka celebrates the harvest as Suggi Habba and Makar Sankranti with Ellu Bella. Exam tip: Tusu and Sarhul belong to Jharkhand, Bihu to Assam, Wangala to Meghalaya.

The correct answer is B, Telangana. Pochampalli, also written Pochampally, is a weaving town in the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of Telangana, not far from Hyderabad. It is famous for ikat sarees, in which the threads are tied and dyed before weaving, so the pattern appears as the cloth is woven. The result is bright, geometric designs with softly blurred edges. Pochampalli ikat carries a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, which protects the name for weavers of this region. The town is also known as Bhoodan Pochampally, because Vinoba Bhave began the Bhoodan, or land-gift, movement here in 1951. A is wrong because Maharashtra is known for Paithani sarees, not Pochampalli. C is wrong because Tamil Nadu is famous for Kanjeevaram silk sarees. D is wrong because Karnataka is known for Mysore silk and Ilkal sarees. Exam tip: Pochampalli ikat, Telangana; Paithani, Maharashtra; Kanjeevaram, Tamil Nadu; Patola, Gujarat; Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh.

The correct answer is A, Kui. Kui is the language of the Kondh (Kandha) tribe of Odisha and is grouped with Telugu and Gondi in the south-central or south-eastern branch of the Dravidian family. It is spoken mainly in Kandhamal, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Koraput and Boudh districts, is written in the Odia script, and has a rich body of oral songs and folk tales. The Odisha cabinet cleared a proposal in July 2023 recommending that Kui be placed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which began with fourteen languages in 1950 and now lists twenty-two, Odia among them. Option B is wrong because Malto is a North Dravidian language of the Rajmahal hills in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Option C is wrong because Tulu belongs to coastal Karnataka and Kasaragod in Kerala, and Karnataka has pressed its own case. Option D is wrong because Kodagu is spoken in the Kodagu district of Karnataka. Exam tip: Brahui, Kurukh and Malto are North Dravidian; Kui and Gondi sit with Telugu.

The correct answer is B, Jainism. Jainism holds that souls (jiva) live not only in humans, animals and plants but also in earth, water, fire and air. Jain thought ranks living beings by the number of senses they have. The lowest group, the one-sensed beings, includes earth-bodies, water-bodies, fire-bodies, air-bodies and plants, so even a stone or running water has a soul. This is why Jain monks practise ahimsa so strictly, sweeping the path and straining water so that they harm as few beings as possible. Mahavira taught that each jiva is bound by karma and is freed only through right faith, right knowledge and right conduct, the three jewels. Option A is wrong because Buddhism denies a permanent soul through its doctrine of anatta. Option C is wrong because Shaivism centres on devotion to Shiva and does not give souls to rocks. Option D is wrong because Vaishnavism centres on devotion to Vishnu and his avatars. Exam tip: souls in stones and water with the strictest ahimsa means Jainism; no soul (anatta) means Buddhism.

The correct answer is D, Copper and Silver. The craftspersons of Bidar were famous for inlay work in copper and silver, and the craft took the name Bidri from the town.

Bidar is in present-day Karnataka and was the capital of the Bahmani rulers and later of the Barid Shahi dynasty. In Bidriware the artisan casts an article from an alloy of zinc and copper, cuts a design into the blackened surface and presses pure silver wire or sheet into the grooves, so the bright pattern stands out against the dark body. Flower, vine and geometric patterns are the usual designs. Bidriware carries a Geographical Indication tag.

A is wrong: gold and bronze are not the metals of Bidri work. B is wrong: bronze is not inlaid in this craft. C is wrong: gold has no part in it, though copper does.

Exam tip: Bidri - Bidar in Karnataka, zinc-copper body with silver inlay, GI tagged.

The correct answer is C, Odisha. Pattachitra is the old cloth-scroll painting of Odisha, and the name itself explains it: patta means cloth and chitra means picture. The painters, called chitrakars, treat a cloth with chalk and tamarind paste, then draw gods and legends on it with natural colours and a fine brush, keeping a decorated border around the scene. Most works show Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra of Puri, Krishna's life or scenes from the epics. The village of Raghurajpur near Puri is famous for this craft and has a GI tag for Odisha Pattachitra. A is wrong because Andhra Pradesh is known for Kalamkari, drawn and dyed with a pen. B is wrong because Rajasthan is known for Phad paintings and the miniature schools of Kishangarh, Mewar and Bundi. D is wrong because Bihar is known for Madhubani or Mithila painting. Exam tip: Pattachitra is Odisha, Madhubani is Bihar, Kalamkari is Andhra Pradesh, Warli is Maharashtra.

The correct answer is B, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He founded ISKCON in New York in 1966.

Born Abhay Charan De in Calcutta in 1896, he sailed to the United States at the age of sixty-nine with a few rupees and a trunk of books, and began chanting the Hare Krishna mantra in a park in Manhattan. ISKCON follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the devotional tradition of Bengal, and is often called the Hare Krishna movement. Prabhupada translated the Bhagavad Gita As It Is and much of the Bhagavata Purana, and the society now runs temples and food relief programmes across the world.

Option A, Sri Chaitanya, was the sixteenth century Bengal saint whose teachings ISKCON follows, but he founded no such society. Option C, Sri Ramakrishna, inspired the Ramakrishna Mission, started by Swami Vivekananda in 1897. Option D was Prabhupada's own guru.

Exam tip: ISKCON, 1966, New York, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition of Chaitanya.

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 A, Andhra Pradesh. Tholu Bommalata is the leather shadow puppet theatre of Andhra Pradesh.

The name means the dance of leather dolls. Puppets are cut from goat or deer hide, dyed on both sides so the colours glow when a lamp throws their shadow on a cloth screen, and worked from behind while singers and a harmonium and drums carry the story. The plays are drawn from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and often run through the night. India has four famous shadow puppet forms: Tholu Bommalata here, Togalu Gombeyaata in Karnataka, Ravanachhaya in Odisha and Tholpavakoothu in Kerala.

Option B is wrong because Karnataka's shadow form is Togalu Gombeyaata. Option C is wrong as Kerala has Tholpavakoothu, performed in Bhagavati temples. Option D is wrong because Maharashtra's puppet tradition is Kalasutri Bahulya, worked with strings.

Exam tip: leather shadow puppets - Andhra Pradesh; string puppets - Rajasthan's Kathputli.

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.