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Art & CultureEasyAsked in: SSC CHSL · 26 May 2022, Shift 3

The nineteenth century saw the golden age of Kathak under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of __________.

  1. A.Hyderabad
  2. B.Rampur
  3. C.Awadh
  4. D.Jaunpur

Correct answer

C. Awadh

Explanation

The correct answer is C, Awadh. Kathak, the classical dance of north India, reached its golden age in the nineteenth century under Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, who ruled from Lucknow until the British annexed his kingdom in 1856. He was a dancer and composer himself, wrote under the pen name Akhtarpiya, created the dance drama Rahas, and supported Thakur Prasad and the brothers Bindadin and Kalka Prasad, whose family built the Lucknow gharana with its stress on grace, expression and thumri. Kathak's other schools are the Jaipur, Banaras and Raigarh gharanas. Option A is wrong because Hyderabad was ruled by the Nizams of the Asaf Jahi line. Option B is wrong because Rampur was a separate Rohilla state, remembered for the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of music, not for Kathak. Option D is wrong because Jaunpur was the Sharqi sultanate of the fifteenth century. Exam tip: Wajid Ali Shah goes with Awadh, the Lucknow gharana of Kathak and thumri.

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Q1.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC MTS · 14 Oct 2021, Shift 3Hard

With which of the following states is the folk theatre form 'Ranmale' traditionally associated?

  1. A.West Bengal
  2. B.Goa
  3. C.Jharkhand
  4. D.Chhattisgarh
Show answer

Correct answer: B. Goa

Explanation

The correct answer is B, Goa. Ranmale is a folk theatre of Goa, performed mainly in the Sattari and Sanguem areas.

It is staged at night in the open during the Shigmo festival and around Holi, in front of a village temple. Men play all the roles, including the female ones, and the episodes are taken from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, tied together by a narrator, drums and the ghumot. Goa's other well known folk forms are Jagor, Dashavatara, Kalo and Khell, and Zagor is listed among its temple traditions.

Option A is wrong because West Bengal's folk theatre is Jatra. Option C is wrong as Jharkhand is known for Chhau and Paika. Option D is wrong because Chhattisgarh's forms are Nacha and Pandavani, the ballad style made famous by Teejan Bai.

Exam tip: Ranmale, Dashavatara and Jagor - Goa; Jatra - West Bengal; Nautanki - Uttar Pradesh; Tamasha - Maharashtra; Bhavai - Gujarat.

Q2.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC MTS · 03 May 2023, Shift 2Medium

Bahmani Monuments at Gulbarga, Karnataka represent ________ style of architecture.

  1. A.Deccan
  2. B.Mameluke
  3. C.Sikh
  4. D.Nagara
Show answer

Correct answer: A. Deccan

Explanation

The correct answer is A, Deccan. The Bahmani buildings at Gulbarga belong to the Deccan or Provincial style of Indo-Islamic architecture.

When the Bahmani sultanate broke away from Delhi in 1347 it developed its own manner, blending Persian and Turkish ideas brought by architects from Iran with local craft and stone. The Jama Masjid inside Gulbarga fort is its finest example: it has no open courtyard, and sixty-three domes and wide arches cover the whole prayer hall, which is unusual in India. The Haft Gumbaz tombs stand nearby. After the capital moved to Bidar the same style produced the Mahmud Gawan madrasa.

Option B, Mameluke or Slave dynasty style, belongs to the early Delhi Sultanate, as in the Qutub Minar. Option C, Sikh style, is seen in gurdwaras of Punjab from a much later period. Option D, Nagara, is a north Indian temple style with a curved shikhara.

Exam tip: Delhi styles are Imperial, regional ones Provincial; Gulbarga and Bidar - Deccan style.

Q3.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC MTS · 14 Oct 2021, Shift 3Medium

'Tholu Bommalatta', a shadow puppet theatre tradition, belongs to the state of:

  1. A.Andhra Pradesh
  2. B.Karnataka
  3. C.Kerala
  4. D.Maharashtra
Show answer

Correct answer: A. Andhra Pradesh

Explanation

The correct answer is A, Andhra Pradesh. Tholu Bommalata is the leather shadow puppet theatre of Andhra Pradesh.

The name means the dance of leather dolls. Puppets are cut from goat or deer hide, dyed on both sides so the colours glow when a lamp throws their shadow on a cloth screen, and worked from behind while singers and a harmonium and drums carry the story. The plays are drawn from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and often run through the night. India has four famous shadow puppet forms: Tholu Bommalata here, Togalu Gombeyaata in Karnataka, Ravanachhaya in Odisha and Tholpavakoothu in Kerala.

Option B is wrong because Karnataka's shadow form is Togalu Gombeyaata. Option C is wrong as Kerala has Tholpavakoothu, performed in Bhagavati temples. Option D is wrong because Maharashtra's puppet tradition is Kalasutri Bahulya, worked with strings.

Exam tip: leather shadow puppets - Andhra Pradesh; string puppets - Rajasthan's Kathputli.

Q4.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC MTS · 14 Oct 2021, Shift 1Medium

Who established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)?

  1. A.Sri Chaitanya
  2. B.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
  3. C.Sri Ramakrishna
  4. D.Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Show answer

Correct answer: B. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Explanation

The correct answer is B, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He founded ISKCON in New York in 1966.

Born Abhay Charan De in Calcutta in 1896, he sailed to the United States at the age of sixty-nine with a few rupees and a trunk of books, and began chanting the Hare Krishna mantra in a park in Manhattan. ISKCON follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the devotional tradition of Bengal, and is often called the Hare Krishna movement. Prabhupada translated the Bhagavad Gita As It Is and much of the Bhagavata Purana, and the society now runs temples and food relief programmes across the world.

Option A, Sri Chaitanya, was the sixteenth century Bengal saint whose teachings ISKCON follows, but he founded no such society. Option C, Sri Ramakrishna, inspired the Ramakrishna Mission, started by Swami Vivekananda in 1897. Option D was Prabhupada's own guru.

Exam tip: ISKCON, 1966, New York, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition of Chaitanya.

Q5.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC MTS · 2 August 2019, Shift 3Easy

Muga silk is associated to which of the following states of India?

  1. A.Arunachal Pradesh
  2. B.Bihar
  3. C.Maharashtra
  4. D.Assam
Show answer

Correct answer: D. Assam

Explanation

The correct answer is D, Assam. Muga silk is produced only in Assam and is the state's best known textile.

It comes from the semi-domesticated silkworm Antheraea assamensis, which feeds on som and soalu leaves in the Brahmaputra valley. The thread has a natural golden yellow shine that grows brighter with every wash, and a Muga mekhela chador can outlast its owner. Muga silk received a Geographical Indication tag in 2007, the first such tag given to a product from Assam. India makes four kinds of silk: mulberry, tasar, eri and muga.

Option A is wrong because Arunachal Pradesh is known for its Apatani and Adi weaves, not muga. Option B is wrong as Bihar is linked with tasar silk from Bhagalpur. Option C is wrong because Maharashtra is known for Paithani sarees, made from mulberry silk.

Exam tip: Muga and eri silk - Assam; tasar - Jharkhand and Bihar; mulberry - Karnataka.