Important Days & Dates Quiz: Birth and Death Anniversaries of National Leaders and Their Samadhis

The correct answer is B, Jawaharlal Nehru. Shanti Van, meaning the forest of peace, is the memorial on the bank of the Yamuna where the first Prime Minister of India was cremated after his death on 27 May 1964. A is wrong because Mahatma Gandhi was cremated at Raj Ghat, the black marble platform with an eternal flame and the words Hey Ram, which is the best known of these memorials. C is wrong because Lal Bahadur Shastri's samadhi is Vijay Ghat, the name recalling the victory in the war of 1965. D is wrong because Indira Gandhi's memorial is Shakti Sthal; Vir Bhumi belongs to Rajiv Gandhi. Learning the five principal names in order, Raj Ghat, Shanti Van, Vijay Ghat, Shakti Sthal and Vir Bhumi, answers most questions of this kind.

The correct answer is B, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was born on 14 November 1889 and was affectionately called Chacha Nehru by children, so his birth anniversary is observed as Children's Day in India, with programmes in schools across the country. A is wrong because Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869, which is observed as Gandhi Jayanti and as the International Day of Non-Violence. C is wrong because Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, was born on 3 December 1884. D is wrong because Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice President and second President, was born on 5 September 1888, observed as Teachers' Day; mixing up Children's Day and Teachers' Day is the usual error in this question. For revision, keep the three November and September dates apart: 14 November for Children's Day, 11 November for National Education Day and 5 September for Teachers' Day, since all three belong to leaders of the same generation.

The correct answer is A, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. The chief architect of the Indian Constitution died on 6 December 1956, and the day is observed as Mahaparinirvan Diwas, a Buddhist term for the final release, since he had embraced Buddhism shortly before his death. He was cremated at Chaitya Bhoomi in Dadar, Mumbai, where huge crowds gather every year on this date. B is wrong because Sardar Patel died on 15 December 1950, and his birth anniversary of 31 October is observed as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas. C is wrong because Lala Lajpat Rai died on 17 November 1928 after a police lathi charge at Lahore. D is wrong because Maulana Azad died on 22 February 1958, and his birthday of 11 November is National Education Day.

The correct answer is B, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, died at Tashkent on 11 January 1966, a day after signing the Tashkent Declaration with Pakistan, and his samadhi in Delhi is named Vijay Ghat after the victory of 1965. A is wrong because Chaudhary Charan Singh, remembered as a leader of farmers, has Kisan Ghat as his memorial, and his birthday of 23 December is observed as Kisan Diwas. C is wrong because Morarji Desai's samadhi, Abhay Ghat, is not in Delhi at all but at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, which makes it a favourite distractor. D is wrong because Giani Zail Singh's memorial is Ekta Sthal. Shastri's slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan is often asked in the same paper.

The correct answer is A, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel was born on 31 October 1875 and, as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, brought the princely states into the Indian Union, which is why his birthday is observed as National Unity Day; the Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat, 182 metres high, was inaugurated on this date in 2018. B is wrong because 31 October is the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1984; her birthday was 19 November, and the clash of the two dates is the trap here. C is wrong because Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897, observed as Parakram Diwas. D is wrong because Birsa Munda was born on 15 November 1875, observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.

The correct answer is A, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Shakti Sthal, the place of power, is the samadhi of Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated on 31 October 1984, and Vir Bhumi, the land of the brave, is the samadhi of Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated on 21 May 1991, a day now observed as Anti-Terrorism Day. B is wrong because it reverses the pair, which is exactly the mistake the question is set to catch. C is wrong because Vir Bhumi is Rajiv Gandhi's memorial, and no such named samadhi is asked for Sanjay Gandhi. D is wrong because the memorial of Jawaharlal Nehru is Shanti Van. Keeping the meanings in mind helps: Shanti for peace, Vijay for victory, Shakti for power and Vir for bravery.

The correct answer is B, Mumbai. Chaitya Bhoomi, at Dadar on the sea front in Mumbai, is the place where Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was cremated after his death on 6 December 1956, and his followers gather there in lakhs on Mahaparinirvan Diwas. A is wrong because Nagpur is the city of Deekshabhoomi, where Ambedkar embraced Buddhism along with lakhs of followers in October 1956; the two sites are constantly swapped in options. C is wrong because Mhow, now Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in Madhya Pradesh, is his birthplace, where he was born on 14 April 1891. D is wrong because the memorials of prime ministers and presidents are in Delhi, but Ambedkar, who was neither, was cremated in Mumbai where he had lived and worked.

The correct answer is B, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Born on 5 September 1888, he was a philosopher and teacher before becoming the first Vice President and the second President of India, and when his students wished to celebrate his birthday he asked that it be kept as Teachers' Day instead. A is wrong because Dr. Zakir Husain was the third President of India and an educationist, but no national day is attached to his birthday. C is wrong because Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India, was born on 11 November 1888, observed as National Education Day, which is the closest distractor in the set. D is wrong because Dr. Rajendra Prasad, born on 3 December 1884, was the first President and has no day named after him.

The correct answer is B, Chaudhary Charan Singh. Known as the champion of the peasantry, he served as Prime Minister and his memorial in Delhi is named Kisan Ghat; his birthday, 23 December 1902, is observed across the country as Kisan Diwas or Farmers' Day. A is wrong because Gulzarilal Nanda, who twice served as acting Prime Minister, has Narayan Ghat as his memorial. C is wrong because Morarji Desai's samadhi is Abhay Ghat at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, outside Delhi. D is wrong because no separately named samadhi of this kind is asked for Chandra Shekhar; later leaders are cremated at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, the common memorial ground created in Delhi so that no fresh plot need be allotted for each one. For revision, note that Charan Singh's slogan and his work on land reform in Uttar Pradesh are asked in the same paper as his memorial, so the name Kisan Ghat and the day Kisan Diwas should be learnt as one pair.

The correct answer is B, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at Birla House in Delhi, and the day is observed every year as Martyrs' Day, with two minutes of silence at eleven in the morning. A is wrong because Bhagat Singh, along with Sukhdev and Rajguru, was hanged at Lahore on 23 March 1931, and that date is also observed as Shaheed Diwas, which is why the question has to be read carefully: India marks more than one Martyrs' Day. C is wrong because Chandra Shekhar Azad died fighting the police at Alfred Park, Allahabad, on 27 February 1931. D is wrong because Lala Lajpat Rai died on 17 November 1928 of injuries from a lathi charge during the protest against the Simon Commission.

The correct answer is A, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Born on 25 December 1924, he served three terms as Prime Minister, and the day is observed as Good Governance Day; his memorial in Delhi is named Sadaiv Atal. B is wrong because Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on 2 October 1904, the same day as Mahatma Gandhi, so two jayantis fall on 2 October. C is wrong because Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born on 25 September 1916, observed as Antyodaya Diwas, and the closeness of the two September and December dates is the trap. D is wrong because Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University, was indeed also born on 25 December, in 1861, but the observance of Good Governance Day is tied specifically to Vajpayee's birth anniversary and was begun in 2014.

The correct answer is A, Swami Vivekananda. Born on 12 January 1863 at Kolkata, he represented Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893 and founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897; his birthday has been observed as National Youth Day since 1985. B is wrong because Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the founder of the Brahmo Sabha and a leader of social reform, was born on 22 May 1772. C is wrong because Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897, a date observed as Parakram Diwas. D is wrong because Sri Aurobindo was born on 15 August 1872, a day that coincides with Independence Day. Vivekananda died at Belur Math near Kolkata on 4 July 1902. For revision, remember that the Ramakrishna Mission has its headquarters at Belur Math, and that Vivekananda's Chicago address of 1893 is asked as often as the date of National Youth Day itself.