Indian States & UTs Mixed Quiz: Set 21

The correct answer is A, it is the longest lake in India. Vembanad is the greatest of the Kerala backwaters, a brackish lagoon that runs behind the coast for a long stretch and is crossed at Alappuzha, the town called the Venice of the East, where the Nehru Trophy Boat Race is rowed on its Punnamada part. Option B is wrong because the high lakes of India are in the Himalaya, such as Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri in Ladakh. Option C is wrong because the largest saltwater lake in India is Chilika in Odisha, and Sambhar in Rajasthan is the largest inland salt lake. Option D is wrong because Vembanad is shallow. Note also that Sasthamkotta, not Vembanad, is the largest freshwater lake of Kerala.

The correct answer is C, 30 May 1987. On that day the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act of 1987 came into force, Goa became the twenty-fifth state of the Union, and Daman and Diu continued as a separate union territory; 30 May is kept as Goa Statehood Day. Option A, 19 December 1961, is the day Portuguese rule ended and is Goa Liberation Day, but Goa then became a union territory, not a state. Option B, 16 January 1967, is the day of the Goa Opinion Poll, in which Goans voted against merging with Maharashtra; it decided Goa's separate identity but gave it no statehood. Option D, 18 June 1946, is Goa Revolution Day, marking Dr Ram Manohar Lohia's defiance of the Portuguese ban on public meetings at Margao. Keep the four dates in order: 1946, 1961, 1967 and 1987.

The correct answer is B, Mollem National Park. It is the single national park of Goa and lies within the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary on the border with Karnataka, in the belt of the Western Ghats where the Dudhsagar Falls also stand. Options A, C and D name real protected areas of Goa, but all three are wildlife sanctuaries and not national parks: Bondla is the small sanctuary near Ponda with a well known zoo and botanical garden, Cotigao lies in the far south near Canacona, and Netravali is in the Sanguem taluka, famous for its bubbling springs. The state's other protected area is the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary on Chorao island in the Mandovi. Examiners test the difference between a national park and a sanctuary, so fix Mollem as the only park.

The correct answer is D, Blackbuck. The blackbuck, called Krishna Jinka in Telugu, is the state animal of Andhra Pradesh. It is an antelope of open grassland and scrub; the male turns dark brown to black with age and carries long spiral horns, while the female stays fawn coloured and usually hornless. It is among the fastest Indian animals and is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972. Punjab and Haryana also carry the blackbuck as their state animal. A is wrong because the mithun, a domesticated bovine of the hills, is the state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and of Nagaland. B is wrong because the ox is a domestic draught animal and is not named as any state animal. C is wrong because the one-horned rhinoceros is the state animal of Assam, where Kaziranga protects most of its population. Exam tip: blackbuck for Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana; rhinoceros for Assam; mithun for Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

The correct answer is B, Eravikulam National Park. Anamudi, about 2,695 metres high, stands in Eravikulam National Park in the Idukki district of Kerala, and the same park holds the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri tahr, the mountain goat of the Western Ghats. Option A is wrong because Silent Valley National Park lies on the Kunthipuzha in Palakkad and is known for its undisturbed evergreen forest and the lion tailed macaque. Option C is wrong because Periyar National Park at Thekkady is a tiger reserve around a reservoir. Option D is wrong because Bandipur is in Karnataka, not Kerala, though it adjoins the Wayanad sanctuary across the border. Fix Anamudi with Eravikulam and with Idukki district. Papers also ask which district holds this peak, and the answer is Idukki, so learn the district with the park.

The correct answer is A, Mullayanagiri. Mullayanagiri, in Chikkamagaluru district in the Baba Budangiri range of the Western Ghats, rises to about one thousand nine hundred and thirty metres and is the highest point in Karnataka. Option B is wrong because Anamudi, at about two thousand six hundred and ninety-five metres, is in Kerala and is the highest peak in India south of the Himalaya, which is why it is offered here as a distractor. Option C is wrong because Kudremukh, also in Karnataka and also in the Western Ghats, is a lower peak better known for its iron ore and for the national park around it. Option D is wrong because Doddabetta is the highest peak of the Nilgiris and lies in Tamil Nadu, near Udhagamandalam.

The correct answer is A, the Mandovi. The Dudhsagar Falls, a drop of roughly 310 metres in four tiers, are on the Mandovi river in the Western Ghats near the Goa and Karnataka border, inside the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary; the name means sea of milk, from the white sheet the water makes in the monsoon. Option B, the Zuari, is wrong although it is the largest river of the state and carries Mormugao port at its mouth. Option C, the Sal, is wrong; it is a small river of South Goa with no such fall. Option D, the Chapora, is wrong; it is a northern river with a Portuguese fort at its mouth. Note that the same river, the Mandovi, carries the capital Panaji, which makes it the single most examinable river of Goa.

The correct answer is B, Rajaraja Chola I. The Brihadeeswarar or Peruvudaiyar temple at Thanjavur, also called the Big Temple, was completed about 1010 CE by Rajaraja Chola I, and its tall vimana of granite is the high point of Dravidian temple architecture; it is the core of the Great Living Chola Temples inscribed as a World Heritage Site. Option A is wrong because Rajendra Chola I, his son, built the temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the usual confusion in this question. Option C is wrong because Narasimhavarman I was a Pallava king of the seventh century associated with Mahabalipuram, three centuries earlier and a different dynasty. Option D is wrong because Karikala Chola belongs to the early Sangam age Cholas and is remembered for the Kallanai across the Kaveri. The granite vimana of the Thanjavur temple rises to about sixty six metres and was the tallest tower in India when it was raised.

The correct answer is A, Palakkad. Silent Valley lies in the Palakkad district on the Kunthipuzha river, a tributary of the Bharathappuzha, and the dam proposed on that river was given up after one of the best known conservation campaigns in India, after which the valley was made a national park. Option B is wrong because Wayanad has its own wildlife sanctuary, part of the Nilgiri biosphere, but not this park. Option C is wrong because Idukki holds Eravikulam and Periyar, which are different parks with different claims to fame. Option D is wrong because Kollam is a coastal district known for Ashtamudi lake and the cashew trade. Remember the lion tailed macaque as the animal associated with Silent Valley. The river itself, the Kunthipuzha, is asked as often as the district, so keep both with this park.

The correct answer is A, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre stands on Sriharikota island on the coast of the Nellore region, between the Pulicat lake and the Bay of Bengal, and every Indian orbital launch, by PSLV, GSLV, SSLV or LVM3, lifts off from there; the site is named after Satish Dhawan, a former chairman of ISRO. Option B is wrong because Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram is the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and a sounding rocket station, not an orbital launch site. Option C is wrong because Balasore in Odisha has the Chandipur missile testing range, which belongs to the DRDO. Option D is wrong because Hassan in Karnataka has the Master Control Facility that keeps station on India's geostationary satellites after they are launched.

The correct answer is C, the Seventy-first Amendment Act, passed in 1992, which added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali to the Eighth Schedule, taking the number of scheduled languages from fifteen to eighteen. Option A is wrong but closely related: the Fifty-sixth Amendment Act of 1987 inserted Article 371-I, the special provision for Goa, in the year Goa became a state. Option B is wrong; the Sixty-first Amendment Act of 1988 lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen years. Option D is wrong, and it is the other trap: the Ninety-second Amendment Act of 2003 added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali to the Eighth Schedule, the next set of languages after Konkani's group. Konkani in the Devanagari script is also the official language of Goa under the Official Language Act of 1987.

The correct answer is C, Palapitta, the Indian roller. Telangana adopted the Indian roller, known in Telugu as palapitta, as its state bird soon after the state was formed in 2014. The bird is a brilliant blue flier of open country and is traditionally regarded as auspicious at Dasara in the Telugu speaking region. The other symbols chosen along with it are the spotted deer or jinka as state animal, the jammi tree as state tree, the tangedu flower as state flower and Bathukamma as the state festival.

Option A, the great Indian bustard, is the state bird of Rajasthan and a critically endangered species of the dry grasslands. Option B, the Asian paradise flycatcher, is the state bird of Madhya Pradesh. Option D, the hill myna, is the state bird of Chhattisgarh. All three belong to other states, so the question rewards a candidate who has learnt the symbols state by state.

The correct answer is A, a harvest festival. Onam falls in the Malayalam month of Chingam, is kept over ten days with the chief day called Thiruvonam, and marks the harvest along with the remembered visit of the king Mahabali, with flower carpets, the sadya meal, boat races and the Pulikali dance. Option B is wrong because the festival of lights is Deepavali, kept across India, and Kerala's own new year festival is Vishu. Option C is wrong because the spring festival of colours is Holi, which belongs mainly to the north. Option D is wrong because no winter new moon festival of this name is kept in Kerala. Note that Thrissur Pooram, by contrast, is a temple festival and not a harvest festival. Papers also ask for the Malayalam month of the festival, which is Chingam, and for its chief day, Thiruvonam.

The correct answer is D, Tripura. The Manikya dynasty ruled Tripura for centuries, and its kings all took the title Manikya. Their history is recorded in the Rajmala, a chronicle in Bengali verse first compiled in the fifteenth century under Dharma Manikya. The Ujjayanta Palace at Agartala, built by Radha Kishore Manikya at the beginning of the twentieth century, was their seat and now houses a state museum, and the lake palace Neermahal was raised by Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, the last ruling king, after whom Agartala's airport is named. The princely state signed the merger agreement and joined the Indian Union in October 1949. Option A is wrong because Gujarat was ruled by the Solanki or Chaulukya line. Option B is wrong because Rajasthan had the Sisodia, Kachwaha and Rathore houses. Option C is wrong because Manipur was ruled by the Ningthouja or Meitei dynasty. Exam tip: Manikya means Tripura, its chronicle is the Rajmala, and it merged with India in 1949.

The correct answer is B, St Francis Xavier. The Basilica of Bom Jesus, built at the end of the sixteenth century, holds the body of St Francis Xavier in a silver casket, and the relics are brought out for public veneration at an exposition held about once in ten years; his feast falls on 3 December. Option A is wrong; St Thomas the Apostle is associated with the Malabar coast and with the Santhome basilica at Chennai. Option C is wrong but is the standing trap, because the Se Cathedral at Old Goa, one of the largest churches in Asia, is the church dedicated to St Catherine. Option D is wrong; the Church of St Francis of Assisi stands beside the Se Cathedral at Old Goa but holds no such relics. All of them belong to the Churches and Convents of Goa, on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1986.

The correct answer is C, Lakshadweep. With an area of only about 32 square kilometres, Lakshadweep is the smallest Union Territory of India. It is a group of 36 coral islands in the Arabian Sea, of which only ten are inhabited, and its capital is Kavaratti. Being coral atolls, the islands are tiny and low lying, which is why the total land area stays so small even though the lagoons and waters around them stretch very wide. Option A is wrong because Daman and Diu covers about 112 square kilometres, more than three times Lakshadweep, and since 2020 it is part of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Option B is wrong because Ladakh is the largest Union Territory by area. Option D is wrong because Jammu and Kashmir is also far larger and is the Union Territory with the biggest population. Exam tip: Lakshadweep is the smallest by area, Ladakh the largest.

The correct answer is C, Ernakulam in Kochi. The Kerala High Court sits at Ernakulam and its jurisdiction covers both the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep, which has no high court of its own. Option A is wrong because Thiruvananthapuram is the capital of the state and the seat of its government and legislature, not of the High Court, which is a point papers test deliberately. Option B is wrong because Kozhikode, the old Calicut, is a commercial and historic city with no high court. Option D is wrong because Thrissur is known for the Pooram festival and for Kerala Kalamandalam at nearby Cheruthuruthy. Several states have the capital and the High Court in different cities, and Kerala is one of them.

The correct answer is C, Afonso de Albuquerque. In 1510 Albuquerque took Goa from the Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur, and the city became the seat of Portuguese power in the East, the capital of the Estado da India, which it remained until 1961. Option A is wrong; Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498 and was the first European to sail to India by the Cape route, but he did not take Goa, though the Goan town of Vasco da Gama carries his name. Option B is wrong; Francisco de Almeida was the first Portuguese viceroy in India, from 1505, and Albuquerque succeeded him. Option D is wrong; Pedro Alvares Cabral led a voyage to Calicut in 1500 and is remembered for reaching Brazil. Portuguese rule in Goa lasted about four and a half centuries, longer than any other European hold in India.

The correct answer is A, Kappad near Kozhikode. Vasco da Gama reached Kappad on the Malabar coast in 1498, having sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, and was received by the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut; this was the first sea route opened from Europe to India. Option B is wrong because Goa was taken by Albuquerque in 1510, twelve years later, and became the seat of Portuguese power in India. Option C is wrong because Surat in Gujarat was the port where the English set up a factory in 1613. Option D is wrong because Masulipatnam on the eastern coast was an English and Dutch trading station of the seventeenth century. Fix 1498 and Kappad together, and remember the Zamorin as the ruler who received him.

The correct answer is B, 40. Goa has a single house, the Legislative Assembly, of forty seats, which is the floor the Constitution allows for a state assembly through the special provision made for Goa; the state also sends two members to the Lok Sabha, from North Goa and South Goa, and one to the Rajya Sabha. Option A, 30, is wrong; thirty is the size of the assembly in Sikkim and in Mizoram, so it is an easy confusion with another small state. Option C, 60, is wrong; sixty is the strength of the assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland. Option D, 70, is wrong; seventy belongs to Himachal Pradesh and to the Delhi assembly. The ordinary minimum for a state assembly is sixty, and Goa is the exception to it.