Raslila, the dance drama on the life of Krishna in which the actors are called swarups, belongs to which region?
- A.Braj, around Mathura and Vrindavan
- B.Mahoba in Bundelkhand
- C.Sonbhadra
- D.Jaunpur
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Braj around Mathura and Vrindavan. Raslila enacts the childhood and the rasa of Krishna in the land of his legend, mixing sung verse, dance and spoken dialogue. The boys who play Krishna, Radha and the gopis are called swarups, that is forms of the deity, and are treated with reverence for the length of the performance. The tradition is tied to the temples and the festival calendar of Braj.
Option B, Mahoba in Bundelkhand, is the home of the Alha ballad and of the Rai dance. Option C, Sonbhadra, in the far south-east, is known for the Karma dance of its tribal communities. Option D, Jaunpur, is remembered for the Sharqi court and its place in the story of khayal. The Krishna theme is the clue in this question: wherever a paper mentions swarups, Raslila or Charkula, the answer is the Braj region.
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
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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
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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
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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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