The Bihula Bishahari festival, which worships the snake goddess, is celebrated mainly in which region of Bihar?
- A.Around Bhagalpur in the Anga region
- B.Around Darbhanga in Mithila
- C.Around Patna in Magadh
- D.Around Arrah in Bhojpur
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Around Bhagalpur in the Anga region. Bihula Bishahari is the snake festival of the old Anga country, the belt around Bhagalpur, in which the goddess is worshipped as Bishahari and the sung story of Bihula, the young wife who is said to have brought her husband Bala Lakhandar back to life, is performed through the nights of the festival. Clay images of the goddess are set up and the songs are a living folk epic of the region.
Option B, Mithila around Darbhanga, worships the snake deities too, but in Madhushravani, kept by newly married women in Shravan, which is a different festival. Option C, Magadh around Patna, and option D, Bhojpur around Arrah, have no festival of this name. The distinction asked here is between the Anga snake festival and the Mithila one, so learn Bihula with Bhagalpur and Madhushravani with Mithila.
Read the full article: Chhath, Sonepur Mela and Festivals of Bihar: Key Facts
Practice Questions
View allThe Chhath festival of Bihar is dedicated chiefly to which deity?
- A.Vishnu
- B.Surya
- C.Shiva
- D.Indra
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Chhath is kept for the Sun God, Surya, along with Chhathi Maiya, and the whole ritual is built around the sun: the vratis stand in water and offer arghya, that is water and prasad, first to the setting sun on the evening of shashthi and then to the rising sun…
Read the full explanation →The main worship of Chhath falls on which day of the month of Kartik?
- A.Chaturthi of the bright half
- B.Panchami of the bright half
- C.Shashthi of the bright half
- D.Purnima
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The festival takes its very name from shashthi, the sixth day of the bright half of Kartik, on which the evening offering to the setting sun is made.
Read the full explanation →Which is the chief prasad of Chhath, made of wheat flour and jaggery?
- A.Thekua
- B.Tilkut
- C.Anarsa
- D.Khaja
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Thekua is a hard sweet made from wheat flour and jaggery, fried in ghee or oil and pressed in a wooden mould, and it is the offering most closely identified with Chhath.
Read the full explanation →The Sonepur fair is held at the confluence of which two rivers?
- A.Ganga and Son
- B.Ganga and Gandak
- C.Ganga and Kosi
- D.Ganga and Punpun
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Sonepur in Saran district lies opposite Patna at the point where the Gandak, coming down from Nepal, joins the Ganga, and the fair is held on that bank from Kartik Purnima.
Read the full explanation →The Sonepur fair, described as the largest cattle fair in Asia, begins on which day?
- A.Makar Sankranti
- B.Kartik Purnima
- C.Vaishakh Purnima
- D.Sharad Purnima
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The Harihar Kshetra fair at Sonepur opens on the full moon of Kartik and runs for about a month, with cattle, horses, birds and handicrafts on sale, a theatre ground, and traders from several states.
Read the full explanation →