Alha, the heroic ballad of Alha and Udal, is the folk song tradition of which region?
- A.Braj
- B.Bundelkhand
- C.Awadh
- D.Rohilkhand
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Bundelkhand. Alha is sung in the Bundelkhandi region of southern Uttar Pradesh and the adjoining districts of Madhya Pradesh, especially around Mahoba, and it narrates the battles of the warrior brothers Alha and Udal of the Chandela court. The verses come from the Alha Khand attributed to the poet Jagnik, the singing is loud and rapid, and the rainy season is its traditional time.
Option A, Braj, has Rasiya, Hori and the Raslila repertoire built around Krishna rather than war ballads. Option C, Awadh, has Sohar, Banna and the thumri and ghazal of Lucknow. Option D, Rohilkhand, is not associated with this ballad at all. Papers often pair Alha with Bundelkhand in a match-the-list question alongside Birha with Purvanchal and Kajri with Mirzapur, so these three pairings are worth memorising together.
Read the full article: Folk Music, Dance and Theatre of Uttar Pradesh: Kathak to Nautanki
Practice Questions
View allWhich gharana of Kathak developed in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh?
- A.Jaipur gharana
- B.Lucknow gharana
- C.Banaras gharana
- D.Raigarh gharana
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The Lucknow gharana of Kathak took shape in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh, who was himself a dancer and a composer of thumris under the pen name Akhtarpiya.
Read the full explanation →Which instrument dominates a Nautanki performance?
- A.Tabla
- B.Nagada or nakkara
- C.Sarangi
- D.Pakhawaj
Show answer
Nautanki is played on an open platform to an audience of hundreds, often through the whole night, so it needs an instrument that carries.
Read the full explanation →The Charkula dance belongs to which region of Uttar Pradesh?
- A.Bundelkhand
- B.Braj
- C.Purvanchal
- D.Rohilkhand
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Charkula is danced in the Braj country around Mathura, where a woman balances a tiered wooden pyramid hung with rows of lighted earthen lamps, traditionally counted as one hundred and eight, on her head and moves to Rasiya songs of Krishna.
Read the full explanation →Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana, was placed by UNESCO on which list?
- A.World Heritage List
- B.Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
- C.Memory of the World Register
- D.List of Creative Cities
Show answer
Ramlila is a living performance tradition rather than a building or a document, so it was inscribed in 2008 on the list that UNESCO maintains for intangible heritage, the same list that carries Kutiyattam, Vedic chanting and Ramman from India.
Read the full explanation →Which pair of towns are the two main centres and styles of Nautanki?
- A.Hathras and Kanpur
- B.Mathura and Agra
- C.Varanasi and Jaunpur
- D.Lucknow and Faizabad
Show answer
Nautanki grew into two recognised styles, the Hathras style in which the sung music and the verse metres dominate and the audience comes for the singing, and the Kanpur style in which dialogue, acting and stagecraft carry more of the play.
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