Tansen, counted among the navratna of Akbar's court, was born at Behat near which city?
- A.Ujjain
- B.Gwalior
- C.Indore
- D.Bhopal
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Gwalior. Tansen was born Ramtanu Pandey in the village of Behat near Gwalior, learnt from Swami Haridas of Vrindavan and from the Sufi Muhammad Ghaus of Gwalior, served the court of Rewa and was then taken by Akbar into his own court, where he was counted among the nine jewels. He is buried at Gwalior beside the tomb of Muhammad Ghaus, and the annual Tansen Samaroh is held there.
Option A, Ujjain, is the city of the Mahakal temple, of Kalidasa and of the Kalidas Samman, not of Tansen. Option C, Indore, is linked to the Indore gharana of Ustad Amir Khan and to Lata Mangeshkar, who was born there. Option D, Bhopal, is the state capital and the seat of the music and tribal art academies, a modern institution rather than a medieval one. Only Gwalior holds both the birthplace and the grave.
Read the full article: Folk Dances, Music and the Tansen Samaroh of Madhya Pradesh
Practice Questions
View allThe Tansen Samaroh, the state's best known music festival, is held every year at
- A.Khajuraho
- B.Behat and Gwalior
- C.Ujjain
- D.Maihar
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The Tansen Samaroh is held in the winter at the musician's birthplace of Behat and at his tomb in Gwalior, and the National Tansen Samman for Hindustani classical music is conferred during it.
Read the full explanation →In the reign of which ruler of Gwalior was the music treatise Man Kutuhal compiled?
- A.Raja Man Singh Tomar
- B.Raja Bhoj
- C.Vikramaditya
- D.Jai Singh
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Man Singh Tomar ruled Gwalior at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century and was the great patron of dhrupad, drawing singers to his court and encouraging composition in the spoken language rather than in Sanskrit alone.
Read the full explanation →The Matki dance, performed by women with an earthen pot balanced on the head, belongs to which region?
- A.Bundelkhand
- B.Malwa
- C.Baghelkhand
- D.Mahakoshal
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Matki is danced by the women of Malwa and the adjoining Nimar at weddings and other family celebrations, with an earthen pot held on the head while the dancer turns to the beat of the dhol.
Read the full explanation →The Rai dance, performed by a Bedni dancer to the nagariya drum, belongs to which region of Madhya Pradesh?
- A.Malwa
- B.Bundelkhand
- C.Nimar
- D.Jhabua
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Rai is the signature dance of Bundelkhand in the north-east of the state, danced by a woman of the Bedni community who whirls to an accelerating beat of the nagariya and the mridang while the audience calls for more.
Read the full explanation →Maach is the traditional folk theatre of which region of Madhya Pradesh?
- A.Malwa
- B.Bundelkhand
- C.Baghelkhand
- D.Mahakoshal
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Maach is the folk theatre of Malwa, played through the night on a raised wooden platform, which is what the name itself means.
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