The temple tank of Karnataka and the Deccan, a stepped water body attached to a shrine, is known as
- A.Jhalara
- B.Khadin
- C.Kalyani or Pushkarni
- D.Ahar
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Kalyani or Pushkarni. In Karnataka and the Deccan the stepped tank built beside a temple for ritual bathing is called a kalyani or a pushkarni, and the stepped tank at Hampi, built of fitted stone blocks, is the best known example. Option A is wrong because a jhalara is a stepped tank of Rajasthan and Gujarat that is filled by seepage from a neighbouring lake or well, Toorji ka Jhalra at Jodhpur being the famous one. Option B is wrong because a khadin is an embankment in the Jaisalmer region that holds runoff on farmland, a cropping device rather than a tank. Option D is wrong because an ahar is the reservoir of the ahar-pyne system of south Bihar. Regional names are the heart of this chapter, so learn vav, baoli, kund, kalyani and jhalara with their regions.
Read the full article: Stepwells of India: Vavs, Baolis, Kunds and Tanks
Practice Questions
View allRani ki Vav, the stepwell inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located at
- A.Patan, Gujarat
- B.Adalaj, Gujarat
- C.Abhaneri, Rajasthan
- D.Bundi, Rajasthan
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Rani ki Vav stands on the bank of the Saraswati at Patan, the old Solanki capital called Anhilwad Patan, and was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014 for its seven storeys of sculpture in the Maru-Gurjara style.
Read the full explanation →Rani ki Vav at Patan was built by which queen?
- A.Rudabai
- B.Udayamati
- C.Nathavati
- D.Ahilyabai Holkar
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Queen Udayamati had the stepwell built in the eleventh century in memory of her husband Bhimdev I of the Solanki or Chaulukya dynasty of Gujarat, which is why it is described as a memorial in the form of an inverted temple.
Read the full explanation →Which stepwell is depicted on the Indian one hundred rupee currency note?
- A.Chand Baori
- B.Rani ki Vav
- C.Adalaj ni Vav
- D.Agrasen ki Baoli
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The reverse of the one hundred rupee note of the Mahatma Gandhi new series carries the motif of Rani ki Vav at Patan, chosen because it is a World Heritage Site that stands for Indian water architecture.
Read the full explanation →Chand Baori, famous for about three thousand five hundred narrow steps and thirteen storeys, is situated in which state?
- A.Gujarat
- B.Rajasthan
- C.Madhya Pradesh
- D.Karnataka
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Chand Baori is at Abhaneri in Dausa district of Rajasthan, opposite the Harshat Mata temple, and is attributed to King Chanda of the Nikumbha house in about the ninth century; its criss-cross flights descending thirteen storeys make it one of the deepest stepwells in India.
Read the full explanation →Which Harappan site is best known for its chain of rock-cut water reservoirs and dams on seasonal streams?
- A.Mohenjo-daro
- B.Dholavira
- C.Lothal
- D.Kalibangan
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Dholavira, on Khadir island in the Rann of Kutch, had no perennial river, so its builders dammed the Manhar and Mansar streams and cut a series of large reservoirs inside the walled town, the most advanced water engineering known from the Harappan civilisation.
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