Kerala GK: Formation, Geography, Culture and Facts

The correct answer is A, 1 November 1956. Kerala came into being on that day under the States Reorganisation Act, which joined Travancore and Cochin with the Malabar district of the Madras State and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara, so that the Malayalam speaking areas formed one state. Option B is wrong because 1 May 1960 is the date on which Bombay State was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat. Option C is wrong because 1 November 1966 is the date Haryana was carved out of Punjab, a different reorganisation ten years later. Option D is wrong because 15 August 1947 is Independence Day, when the princely states of Travancore and Cochin still existed separately. Note that Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh also date from 1 November 1956.

The correct answer is B, E. M. S. Namboodiripad. He became the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957, after the first assembly election held in the new state, and his ministry is remembered for its land reform and education bills. Option A is wrong because C. Achutha Menon held the office later, in the nineteen seventies. Option C is wrong because K. Karunakaran led ministries from the nineteen seventies onward and belongs to a later generation of leaders. Option D is wrong because Pattom Thanu Pillai, though a senior figure who had led Travancore Cochin before the state was formed, became Chief Minister of Kerala only afterwards. For the exam, hold 1956 for the formation of the state and 1957 for its first ministry.

The correct answer is C, Periyar. The Periyar rises in the Western Ghats and flows west to the Arabian Sea, and it carries both the Idukki arch dam and the Mullaperiyar dam, the second of which is worked by Tamil Nadu under an old lease. Option A is wrong, but only by one place: the Bharathappuzha, also called the Nila, is the second longest river of the state and flows through Palakkad and Thrissur. Option B is wrong because the Pamba, the third in length, is the river of Sabarimala and of the Aranmula boat race. Option D is wrong because the Chaliyar flows through Malappuram and Kozhikode and is shorter than these. Remember that forty one of Kerala's rivers flow west and only three flow east.

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 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, 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, 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 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 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 A, natural rubber. Kerala grows most of the natural rubber produced in India, with the Kottayam region at its centre, and the Rubber Board of India works from Kottayam. Option B is wrong because cotton is a crop of the black soil tracts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana, and the climate of Kerala does not suit it. Option C is wrong because sugarcane is grown mainly in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where the plains and the irrigation suit the crop. Option D is wrong because wheat is a rabi crop of the north and is not grown in Kerala at all. The other crops to link with Kerala are coconut, black pepper, cardamom, cashew, tea and coffee, which is why it is called the Spice Garden of India.

The correct answer is B, the great hornbill. The great hornbill, a large forest bird of the Western Ghats with a heavy yellow bill and a casque above it, is the state bird of Kerala, and the state animal is the Indian elephant, the state flower the golden shower called kanikonna and the state tree the coconut palm. Option A is wrong because the Indian roller is the state bird of several other states, among them Odisha and Karnataka. Option C is wrong because the peacock is the national bird of India and is not used again as a state bird here. Option D is wrong because the Nilgiri flycatcher, though a bird of these hills, carries no such official place. State symbols are a favourite one mark question, so learn all four for Kerala.

The correct answer is C, the Palakkad Gap. It is the broad low break in the Western Ghats, about thirty kilometres wide, through which road and rail run between Kerala and Tamil Nadu and through which the summer winds blow inland, which is why the rainfall pattern on either side of it differs. Option A is wrong because the Thal Ghat is a pass in Maharashtra, on the route from Mumbai towards Nashik. Option B is wrong because the Bhor Ghat is also in Maharashtra, on the route towards Pune. Option D is wrong because the Shencottah Gap is a real but much smaller gap further south, and it is not the main break of the range. Learn the Palakkad Gap with Palakkad district and the Bharathappuzha river.