Which novel by Phanishwar Nath Renu began the regional or anchalik tradition in Hindi fiction?
- A.Parti Parikatha
- B.Maila Anchal
- C.Balchanma
- D.Dehati Duniya
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Maila Anchal. Renu, born at Aurahi Hingna in the Purnia country of north east Bihar, set the novel in a village called Meriganj just after independence, and made the village itself the hero, with its castes, quarrels, politics, superstitions and hopes. Critics took it as the beginning of the anchalik or regional novel in Hindi, in which a whole locality rather than a single character carries the story.
Option A, Parti Parikatha, is also by Renu and also set in the same countryside, but it came later and did not start the tradition. Option C, Balchanma, is a Hindi novel by Nagarjun, the Maithili and Hindi writer Baidyanath Mishra. Option D, Dehati Duniya, is the earlier village novel of Shiva Pujan Sahay, often cited as a forerunner. For the exam, keep the pair Renu and Maila Anchal, and remember that his story Maare Gaye Gulfam became the film Teesri Kasam.
Read the full article: Bihar Languages and Literature: Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi
Practice Questions
View allMaithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution by which amendment?
- A.71st Amendment Act, 1992
- B.92nd Amendment Act, 2003
- C.21st Amendment Act, 1967
- D.96th Amendment Act, 2011
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This amendment added four languages to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, namely Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali, and raised the total number of scheduled languages from eighteen to twenty-two.
Read the full explanation →By which title is the poet Vidyapati of Mithila remembered?
- A.Maithil Kokil
- B.Shakespeare of Bhojpuri
- C.Rashtrakavi
- D.Purvi Samrat
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Vidyapati was the poet of the Mithila court in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and his Maithili padavali of songs about Radha and Krishna is still sung in north Bihar.
Read the full explanation →Varna Ratnakara, regarded as the first prose work in Maithili, was written by whom?
- A.Vidyapati
- B.Chanda Jha
- C.Jyotirishwar Thakur
- D.Harimohan Jha
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His Varna Ratnakara, a fourteenth century work, is counted as the earliest prose composition in Maithili and indeed one of the earliest in any modern Indian language.
Read the full explanation →Which of these languages spoken in Bihar is NOT included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution?
- A.Hindi
- B.Urdu
- C.Bhojpuri
- D.Maithili
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Bhojpuri is spoken by crores of people in western Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Indian diaspora of Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname and Trinidad, and it has a rich folk theatre, yet it has not been added to the Eighth Schedule.
Read the full explanation →Which script was traditionally used for writing the Maithili language?
- A.Kaithi
- B.Tirhuta or Mithilakshar
- C.Sharada
- D.Brahmi
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This is the traditional script of the Mithila region, used for Maithili manuscripts, panjis of genealogy and ritual texts, and it is related to the eastern group of scripts that also produced Bengali and Assamese letters.
Read the full explanation →