The Konark Festival, held in the first week of December near a famous Sun Temple, belongs to which state?

The correct answer is B, Madhya Pradesh. The Khajuraho Dance Festival is held every February at Khajuraho in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, with the Western group of temples as its setting, and it presents the recognised classical dance styles of the country on an open-air stage. Option A, Odisha, holds the Konark Festival at its Sun Temple in early December and the Mukteshwar Dance Festival at Bhubaneswar in January, which is why it is the strongest distractor; both are temple festivals of dance, but neither is Khajuraho. Option C, Rajasthan, is the home of the Jaipur Literature Festival and of the desert and camel fairs, not of this dance festival. Option D, Tamil Nadu, holds the Mamallapuram Dance Festival and the Natyanjali Festival at Chidambaram. Fix the pair Khajuraho and Madhya Pradesh, because it is the single most asked festival in the chapter.

The correct answer is C, Nagaland. The Hornbill Festival is held at the Kisama heritage village near Kohima from 1 to 10 December, the days around Nagaland's statehood day, and it is called the Festival of Festivals because every major tribe of the state presents its own dances, songs, games and food in one place. The hornbill, a large bird whose feathers appear in traditional Naga headgear, gives it its name. Option A, Manipur, holds the Sangai Festival in late November, named after its brow-antlered deer, and that is the commonest confusion here. Option B, Mizoram, is associated with Chapchar Kut, its spring festival. Option D, Meghalaya, holds Wangala, the harvest festival of the Garos, also called the festival of a hundred drums. Learn the trio: Hornbill for Nagaland, Sangai for Manipur, Wangala for Meghalaya.

The correct answer is B, Madhya Pradesh. The Tansen Samaroh is held every December near Gwalior, at the tomb of Tansen, one of the nine jewels of Akbar's court and a founding figure of Hindustani classical music; the state also confers the Tansen Samman at the festival. Option A, Uttar Pradesh, is a strong distractor because Tansen is usually said to have been born near Gwalior but spent his later years at the Mughal court, and because Uttar Pradesh holds the Taj Mahotsav at Agra. Option C, Rajasthan, holds the Jaipur Literature Festival and the Pushkar and Desert fairs. Option D, Maharashtra, holds the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav at Pune and the Elephanta Festival at Mumbai. Madhya Pradesh is the state to remember for three festivals, Khajuraho for dance, Tansen for music and Kalidas Samaroh at Ujjain for literature and drama.

The correct answer is B, the Jaipur Literature Festival. It began in 2006, is held every January at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur, admits visitors free of charge and draws writers, translators and publishers from many countries, which is how it came to be called the greatest literary show on Earth. Option A, the Kerala Literature Festival, is held on the beach at Kozhikode and is the largest in the south, but it started later and has a different setting. Option C, the Kolkata Literary Meet, is held in that city in winter, alongside the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, and is strongly associated with Bengali letters. Option D, the Goa Arts and Literature Festival, is a smaller gathering that joins literature with the visual and performing arts. For the exam, hold on to the three details: 2006, Diggi Palace and Jaipur.

The correct answer is C, Lord Nataraja. The festival is held in the courtyard of the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, where Shiva is worshipped in his dancing form as Nataraja, and dancers from across the country offer their art there over five days beginning on Maha Shivratri; the very name Natyanjali means an offering of dance. Option A, Lord Vishnu, is central to Srirangam and Tirupati but not to Chidambaram. Option B, Goddess Meenakshi, is the deity of the great temple at Madurai, where the Chithirai festival and the celestial wedding are observed. Option D, Lord Murugan, is worshipped at the six abodes in Tamil Nadu, including Palani, and his festival is Thaipusam. The link to remember is Chidambaram, Nataraja, Maha Shivratri and Bharatanatyam offered as worship rather than performance.