Pietra Dura, the inlay technique of architecture can be found in which of the following monuments?

The correct answer is D, twelfth. Qutb-ud-din Aibak began the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in 1192, soon after the second battle of Tarain, and the first phase was finished by about 1198, which falls in the last decade of the twelfth century. He laid the foundation of the Qutb Minar beside it in 1199, and Iltutmish completed the minaret. It is counted as the first mosque built in Delhi by the new sultanate, put together with stone taken from earlier temples on the site, which is why its pillars carry older Indian motifs. Iltutmish and later Alauddin Khalji enlarged the courtyard, and the fourth-century iron pillar of Chandra stands within it. Options A, B and C are wrong because the eleventh century is before the sultanate reached Delhi, while the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries cover the later additions rather than the original mosque. Exam tip: Tarain 1192, Quwwat-ul-Islam 1192-98, Qutb Minar begun 1199.

The correct answer is D, lotus. The star-shaped shrine of Gurudwara Shri Hemkund Sahib is built with a roof shaped like an upturned lotus, a flower that also appears in the story of the site. The gurudwara stands in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand at a height of over 4,600 metres, beside a glacial lake ringed by seven peaks called Sapt Shring. It is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, who describes the place in his composition Bachittar Natak, and the shrine stays open only from about May to October because of snow. Options A, B and C are wrong because the rose, the marigold and the sunflower have no place in the design of this gurudwara; the marigold is used in garlands and the other two are garden flowers. The lotus, on the other hand, is a standing symbol of purity in Indian religious architecture. Exam tip: Hemkund Sahib is in Uttarakhand, near the Valley of Flowers National Park.

The correct answer is D, Mallika Sarabhai. She won the best actress award in 1975 for her role in the Gujarati film Meena Gurjari, early in a career that moved between cinema, theatre and dance. Trained by her mother Mrinalini Sarabhai in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, she is also known for playing Draupadi in Peter Brook's stage and screen production of The Mahabharata, and she runs the Darpana Academy in Ahmedabad. Option A is wrong because Sonal Mansingh is an Odissi and Bharatanatyam exponent honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, not a film actress. Option B is wrong because Sitara Devi was the Kathak dancer whom Rabindranath Tagore called Nritya Samragini, and her film work came in the 1940s. Option C is wrong because Shovana Narayan is a Kathak dancer who also served as an officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service. Exam tip: link Mallika Sarabhai with Darpana Academy and her mother Mrinalini Sarabhai.

The correct answer is A, Shehnai. The shehnai is called a mangal vadya, an instrument of auspicious occasions, because it is played at weddings, temple rituals and processions. It is a double-reed wind instrument with a wooden body and a metal bell at the end, and in classical music it belongs to the sushir or wind family. Ustad Bismillah Khan, who played the shehnai from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August 1947 and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, turned it into a concert instrument. Option B is wrong because the santoor is a trapezoid string instrument of Kashmir struck with light mallets, made famous by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Option C is wrong because the tabla is a pair of drums used for rhythm in Hindustani music. Option D is wrong because the damaru is a small two-headed drum linked with Lord Shiva. Exam tip: shehnai-Bismillah Khan, santoor-Shivkumar Sharma, sarod-Amjad Ali Khan.

The correct answer is D, i - c, ii - d, iii - a, iv - b. An idgah is an open walled ground on the edge of a town where the whole community gathers for the Id prayer, so it matches an open prayer place. A dargah is the tomb of a Sufi saint, where followers of every faith come to offer flowers and prayers. A cul-de-sac is a narrow lane closed at one end, the kind of street that filled the crowded mohallas of Shahjahanabad. A khanqah is the hospice where a Sufi master lived with his disciples, taught and fed visitors. A is wrong because it turns the idgah into a Sufi lodge and the khanqah into a prayer ground. B is wrong because it calls the idgah a saint's tomb and the dargah an open prayer place. C is wrong because it makes the idgah a lodge and the khanqah a tomb. Exam tip: idgah, open Id prayer ground; khanqah, Sufi hospice; dargah, the saint's tomb.