Ustad Bismillah Khan, who made the shehnai a solo concert instrument, was born at which place in Bihar?
- A.Dumraon in Buxar
- B.Bettiah in West Champaran
- C.Misrauliya in Saran
- D.Kutubpur in Saran
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Dumraon in Buxar. Bismillah Khan was born at Dumraon in 1916, in the present Buxar district, into a family of shehnai players, and later settled at Varanasi. He raised the shehnai from a ceremonial instrument to one played in solo concerts, performed at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947 and was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001.
Option B, Bettiah, is known for its Dhrupad gharana, not for the shehnai. Option C, Misrauliya in Saran, is the village of Mahendar Misir, the composer of Purbi songs. Option D, Kutubpur in Saran, is the village of Bhikhari Thakur, the creator of Bidesia. All four are places tied to music in Bihar, which is what makes the question worth asking; fix Dumraon with the shehnai and the Bharat Ratna of 2001.
Read the full article: Folk Music, Dance and Theatre of Bihar: Forms and Regions
Practice Questions
View allBhikhari Thakur, called the Shakespeare of Bhojpuri, is best known for creating which form of folk theatre?
- A.Kirtaniya
- B.Bidesia
- C.Nautanki
- D.Reshma-Chuharmal
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Bhikhari Thakur, born in 1887 at Kutubpur Diyara in Saran district, wrote the play Bidesia about a wife left behind when her husband migrates to Calcutta for work, and the name was then applied to the whole style of Bhojpuri naach he built, with its songs and its launda dancers.
Read the full explanation →The Jhijhiya dance, in which women balance a perforated earthen pot with a lamp in it, belongs to which region of Bihar?
- A.Mithila
- B.Magadh
- C.Shahabad
- D.Chhotanagpur
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Jhijhiya is danced by women of the Mithila region during Navratri, each carrying on her head an earthen pot pierced with many holes and holding a lighted lamp; the dance is offered to the Goddess and is traditionally believed to turn away witchcraft and evil spells.
Read the full explanation →Which folk dance of north Bihar is performed by a couple in the rainy season on the theme of quarrel, drought and migration?
- A.Domkach
- B.Jat-Jatin
- C.Jhumari
- D.Jharni
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Jat-Jatin is danced in the Mithila and Koshi tract of north Bihar, usually by a pair representing the husband Jat and the wife Jatin; the song moves through their quarrel, the failure of the rains and the husband leaving the village in search of work, which makes it the folk…
Read the full explanation →Which gharana of Dhrupad singing belongs to Bihar?
- A.Gwalior
- B.Kirana
- C.Darbhanga
- D.Jaipur-Atrauli
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The Darbhanga gharana, carried by the Mallick family under the patronage of the Darbhanga Raj, is one of the surviving gharanas of Dhrupad, the oldest form of Hindustani classical singing; Pandit Ram Chatur Mallick and Pandit Siyaram Tiwari belong to it.
Read the full explanation →The Purbi style of folk singing of the Bhojpuri region is associated with which composer?
- A.Mahendar Misir
- B.Vidyapati
- C.Bhikhari Thakur
- D.Siyaram Tiwari
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Mahendar Misir of Misrauliya village in Saran district composed and sang Purbi, a light classical folk form built on the longing of a wife whose husband has gone away, and he is remembered as the emperor of Purbi.
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