The Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram and the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram were built by which ruler?
- A.Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha
- B.Pulakeshin II
- C.Krishna I
- D.Rajaraja I
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha. He ruled in the early eighth century and marks the structural phase of Pallava architecture, when temples were built up of dressed stone instead of being cut from living rock. Both the Shore Temple by the sea at Mahabalipuram and the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram are his.
Option B, Pulakeshin II, was the Chalukya king of Badami, remembered for defeating Harsha, and his dynasty built at Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal instead. Option C, Krishna I, was the Rashtrakuta king who had the Kailasa temple at Ellora carved out of a single hill in the eighth century, a work often confused with the Kanchipuram temple of similar name. Option D, Rajaraja I, was the Chola who built the Brihadeshwara temple at Thanjavur around 1010 CE, three centuries later.
Read the full article: Harsha and the South Indian Kingdoms: Rulers and PYQs
Practice Questions
View allWhich of the following is NOT correct regarding king Harshavardhana?
- A.Harshavardhana ruled nearly about 1400 years ago
- B.Xuan Zang spent a lot of time at Harsha's court
- C.Harshavardhana's court poet was Harishena
- D.Harshacharita is a biography written on Harshavardhana
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Harishena belonged to an earlier century altogether: he was the court poet of Samudragupta and composed the Prayag Prashasti, the Allahabad Pillar Inscription.
Read the full explanation →King Shashanka, against whom Harshvardhana declared war, was a ruler of the ________ kingdom.
- A.Kanyakubja
- B.Junagarh
- C.Magadha
- D.Gauda
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Shashanka was the king of Gauda, the region of Bengal with its centre at Karnasuvarna. He killed Harsha's elder brother Rajyavardhana, and it was to avenge that killing, and to recover his sister Rajyashri, that Harsha declared war and allied with Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following books was authored by Harshavardhana?
- A.Harshacharita
- B.Kadambari
- C.Ratnavali
- D.Gitagovinda
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Harshavardhana was a dramatist as well as a king, and three Sanskrit plays are credited to him: Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda.
Read the full explanation →'Banabhatta', well known for his literary works, flourished during the reign of _______.
- A.Ashoka
- B.Bindusara
- C.Chandragupta II
- D.Harshavardhana
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Banabhatta was the court poet of Harsha in the seventh century CE. He wrote the Harshacharita, the biography of his patron and the first historical biography in Sanskrit, and the prose romance Kadambari, which was completed by his son Bhushanabhatta.
Read the full explanation →The Aihole inscription, which records the defeat of Harshavardhana, was composed by the court poet of which ruler?
- A.Narasimhavarman I
- B.Pulakeshin II
- C.Dantidurga
- D.Mahendravarman I
Show answer
The Aihole inscription was composed in Sanskrit by Ravikirti, the Jain court poet of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II of Badami.
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