Someshwar temple at Kiradu and Harshat-mata temple at Abhaneri are built in which of the following architectural styles?
- A.Gupta
- B.Gurjar-Pratihara
- C.Maurya
- D.Dravid
Correct answer
B. Gurjar-Pratihara
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Gurjar-Pratihara. Both temples belong to the Gurjara-Pratihara style, the western Indian form of the Nagara tradition that grew under Pratihara rule between the eighth and the eleventh centuries. The Someshwar temple at Kiradu in Barmer district is the finest of a group of five temples, so richly carved that Kiradu is called the Khajuraho of Rajasthan. The Harshat Mata temple at Abhaneri in Dausa district stands on a high platform beside the famous Chand Baori stepwell and shows the same curved shikhara, carved pillars and sculptured panels. A is wrong because Gupta temples, like the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh, are earlier and plainer. C is wrong because Mauryan work survives as pillars, stupas and rock-cut caves, not temples. D is wrong because the Dravida style of the south has a pyramidal vimana and a gopuram. Exam tip: Kiradu in Barmer and Abhaneri in Dausa, both Gurjara-Pratihara, Nagara family.
Practice Questions
View allWhich of the following dances is a dance form from Arunachal Pradesh?
- A.Popir
- B.Chiraw
- C.Lezim
- D.Macha
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Popir
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Popir. Popir is a folk dance of the Adi people of Arunachal Pradesh, danced by women at the Mopin harvest festival.
Arunachal Pradesh has many such dances, among them Bardo Chham of the Sherdukpens, Ponung of the Adis and Aji Lamu of the Monpas, and most of them are tied to farming festivals or to driving away evil. Popir is performed in a line or a circle, the dancers linking arms and singing together to the beat of a drum and a gong, with Mopin itself celebrated in spring for a good harvest and the well-being of the village.
B is wrong: Chiraw, better known as Cheraw or the bamboo dance, belongs to Mizoram. C is wrong: Lezim is a folk dance of Maharashtra, performed with the lezim, a small wooden instrument fitted with jingling cymbals. D is wrong: Macha, or Maach, is the traditional folk theatre of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.
Exam tip: Popir and Ponung belong to Arunachal Pradesh, Cheraw to Mizoram, Lezim to Maharashtra and Maach to Madhya Pradesh.
Which of the following is correctly matched?
- A.Hariprasad Chaurasia – Sarood
- B.Zakir Husain – Sitar
- C.Bismillah Khan – Tabla
- D.Sultan Khan – Sarangi
Show answer
Correct answer: D. Sultan Khan – Sarangi
Explanation
The correct answer is D, Sultan Khan and Sarangi. Ustad Sultan Khan of the Sikar gharana was the best known sarangi player of his time, accompanied Ravi Shankar on world tours and won the Padma Bhushan in 2010. The sarangi is a short-necked bowed instrument whose sound comes closest to the human voice, which is why it long accompanied khayal and thumri singing. A is wrong because Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia plays the bansuri, the bamboo flute, while the sarod is linked with Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan. B is wrong because Ustad Zakir Hussain was a tabla player, son of Ustad Alla Rakha; the sitar belongs to Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan. C is wrong because Ustad Bismillah Khan played the shehnai and made it a concert instrument, earning the Bharat Ratna in 2001. Exam tip: flute to Chaurasia, tabla to Zakir Hussain, shehnai to Bismillah Khan, sarangi to Sultan Khan.
At which of the following places is the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library located?
- A.Kolkata
- B.Prayagraj
- C.Mumbai
- D.New Delhi
Show answer
Correct answer: D. New Delhi
Explanation
The correct answer is D, New Delhi. The institution stands at Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi, the house where Jawaharlal Nehru lived as Prime Minister for sixteen years, and it was opened to the public in 1964 after his death. It holds a museum on his life, a research library on modern Indian history with private papers and old newspapers, and a planetarium added in 1984. It works under the Ministry of Culture and has since been renamed the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library. The name Teen Murti comes from the three-soldier memorial in the circle outside. A is wrong because Kolkata has the Victoria Memorial and the National Library. B is wrong because Prayagraj has Anand Bhawan, the Nehru family home turned museum. C is wrong because Mumbai has the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. Exam tip: pair Teen Murti Bhavan with Nehru and Anand Bhawan with Prayagraj.
The bronze sculpture Triumph of Labour on the Marina at Chennai was made by the first chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi. Who was he?
- A.Ramkinkar Baij
- B.Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury
- C.K. C. S. Paniker
- D.Nandalal Bose
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury. Roy Choudhury, a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore who became the first Indian principal of the Government School of Art at Madras, modelled Triumph of Labour, the group of four men straining at a rock that stands on the Marina beach at Chennai, and also the Martyrs' Memorial outside the Patna secretariat. He was appointed the first chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1954. Option A is wrong because Ramkinkar Baij, though the other great sculptor of the period, made Santhal Family and Mill Call at Santiniketan. Option C is wrong because K. C. S. Paniker was a painter who founded Cholamandal. Option D is wrong because Nandalal Bose was a painter, not a sculptor. Separate the two sculptors by their cities: Ramkinkar Baij at Santiniketan, Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury at Madras and Patna.
Which Indian painter directed the short film Through the Eyes of a Painter, which won the Golden Bear for a short film at Berlin in 1967?
- A.F. N. Souza
- B.M. F. Husain
- C.Satish Gujral
- D.Krishen Khanna
Show answer
Correct answer: B. M. F. Husain
Explanation
The correct answer is B, M. F. Husain. Maqbool Fida Husain, a founder member of the Progressive Artists' Group and often called the Picasso of India, made the short film Through the Eyes of a Painter, which took the Golden Bear for a short film at the Berlin festival in 1967; he later directed the feature Gaja Gamini. He is remembered for his horses and for his Ramayana and Mahabharata series, received the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan, and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Option A is wrong because F. N. Souza, who founded the group, was a painter and writer who moved to London. Option C is wrong because Satish Gujral was a painter, muralist and architect who designed the Belgian embassy in Delhi. Option D is wrong because Krishen Khanna, a member of the group, painted bandwallas and did not make films. Husain was born at Pandharpur in Maharashtra in 1915 and began his working life painting cinema hoardings in Bombay.