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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, 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 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 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, Hoysala. The Hoysalas ruled southern Karnataka from Belur and Dwarasamudra, today's Halebidu, and their temples are unmistakable: a raised star shaped platform called the jagati, shrines on a stellate plan, soft chloritic schist or soapstone that allowed jewellery and hair to be carved in minute detail, lathe turned pillars, and bands of friezes showing elephants, horses and scenes from the epics. Somnathpur is the third temple of the group.

Option A, Pallava, refers to the earlier rock-cut rathas and structural temples at Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram. Option C, Chandela, is the school of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, built in sandstone on a panchayatana plan. Option D, Kalinga, is the Odisha school of Lingaraja, Jagannath and Konark. Telling Hoysala from Chandela by the star plan and the soapstone is the usual trap.