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Art & CultureMediumAsked in: SSC GD Constable · 3 March 2019, Shift 3

Which of the following dances is a dance form from Arunachal Pradesh?

  1. A.Popir
  2. B.Chiraw
  3. C.Lezim
  4. D.Macha

Correct answer

A. Popir

Explanation

The correct answer is A, Popir. Popir is a folk dance of the Adi people of Arunachal Pradesh, danced by women at the Mopin harvest festival.

Arunachal Pradesh has many such dances, among them Bardo Chham of the Sherdukpens, Ponung of the Adis and Aji Lamu of the Monpas, and most of them are tied to farming festivals or to driving away evil. Popir is performed in a line or a circle, the dancers linking arms and singing together to the beat of a drum and a gong, with Mopin itself celebrated in spring for a good harvest and the well-being of the village.

B is wrong: Chiraw, better known as Cheraw or the bamboo dance, belongs to Mizoram. C is wrong: Lezim is a folk dance of Maharashtra, performed with the lezim, a small wooden instrument fitted with jingling cymbals. D is wrong: Macha, or Maach, is the traditional folk theatre of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.

Exam tip: Popir and Ponung belong to Arunachal Pradesh, Cheraw to Mizoram, Lezim to Maharashtra and Maach to Madhya Pradesh.

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Q1.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC CPO · 27 Jun, 2024, Shift 3Medium

Which of the following is correctly matched?

  1. A.Hariprasad Chaurasia – Sarood
  2. B.Zakir Husain – Sitar
  3. C.Bismillah Khan – Tabla
  4. D.Sultan Khan – Sarangi
Show answer

Correct answer: D. Sultan Khan – Sarangi

Explanation

The correct answer is D, Sultan Khan and Sarangi. Ustad Sultan Khan of the Sikar gharana was the best known sarangi player of his time, accompanied Ravi Shankar on world tours and won the Padma Bhushan in 2010. The sarangi is a short-necked bowed instrument whose sound comes closest to the human voice, which is why it long accompanied khayal and thumri singing. A is wrong because Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia plays the bansuri, the bamboo flute, while the sarod is linked with Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan. B is wrong because Ustad Zakir Hussain was a tabla player, son of Ustad Alla Rakha; the sitar belongs to Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan. C is wrong because Ustad Bismillah Khan played the shehnai and made it a concert instrument, earning the Bharat Ratna in 2001. Exam tip: flute to Chaurasia, tabla to Zakir Hussain, shehnai to Bismillah Khan, sarangi to Sultan Khan.

Q2.Art & CultureAsked in: SSC CPO · 25 November 2020, Shift 1Easy

At which of the following places is the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library located?

  1. A.Kolkata
  2. B.Prayagraj
  3. C.Mumbai
  4. D.New Delhi
Show answer

Correct answer: D. New Delhi

Explanation

The correct answer is D, New Delhi. The institution stands at Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi, the house where Jawaharlal Nehru lived as Prime Minister for sixteen years, and it was opened to the public in 1964 after his death. It holds a museum on his life, a research library on modern Indian history with private papers and old newspapers, and a planetarium added in 1984. It works under the Ministry of Culture and has since been renamed the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library. The name Teen Murti comes from the three-soldier memorial in the circle outside. A is wrong because Kolkata has the Victoria Memorial and the National Library. B is wrong because Prayagraj has Anand Bhawan, the Nehru family home turned museum. C is wrong because Mumbai has the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. Exam tip: pair Teen Murti Bhavan with Nehru and Anand Bhawan with Prayagraj.

Q3.Art & CultureHard

The bronze sculpture Triumph of Labour on the Marina at Chennai was made by the first chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi. Who was he?

  1. A.Ramkinkar Baij
  2. B.Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury
  3. C.K. C. S. Paniker
  4. D.Nandalal Bose
Show answer

Correct answer: B. Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury

Explanation

The correct answer is B, Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury. Roy Choudhury, a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore who became the first Indian principal of the Government School of Art at Madras, modelled Triumph of Labour, the group of four men straining at a rock that stands on the Marina beach at Chennai, and also the Martyrs' Memorial outside the Patna secretariat. He was appointed the first chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1954. Option A is wrong because Ramkinkar Baij, though the other great sculptor of the period, made Santhal Family and Mill Call at Santiniketan. Option C is wrong because K. C. S. Paniker was a painter who founded Cholamandal. Option D is wrong because Nandalal Bose was a painter, not a sculptor. Separate the two sculptors by their cities: Ramkinkar Baij at Santiniketan, Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury at Madras and Patna.

Q4.Art & CultureHard

Which Indian painter directed the short film Through the Eyes of a Painter, which won the Golden Bear for a short film at Berlin in 1967?

  1. A.F. N. Souza
  2. B.M. F. Husain
  3. C.Satish Gujral
  4. D.Krishen Khanna
Show answer

Correct answer: B. M. F. Husain

Explanation

The correct answer is B, M. F. Husain. Maqbool Fida Husain, a founder member of the Progressive Artists' Group and often called the Picasso of India, made the short film Through the Eyes of a Painter, which took the Golden Bear for a short film at the Berlin festival in 1967; he later directed the feature Gaja Gamini. He is remembered for his horses and for his Ramayana and Mahabharata series, received the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan, and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Option A is wrong because F. N. Souza, who founded the group, was a painter and writer who moved to London. Option C is wrong because Satish Gujral was a painter, muralist and architect who designed the Belgian embassy in Delhi. Option D is wrong because Krishen Khanna, a member of the group, painted bandwallas and did not make films. Husain was born at Pandharpur in Maharashtra in 1915 and began his working life painting cinema hoardings in Bombay.

Q5.Art & CultureMedium

The Cholamandal Artists' Village, founded in 1966 by K. C. S. Paniker, is located near which city?

  1. A.Chennai
  2. B.Bengaluru
  3. C.Kochi
  4. D.Hyderabad
Show answer

Correct answer: A. Chennai

Explanation

The correct answer is A, Chennai. Cholamandal Artists' Village was founded in 1966 on the coast south of Chennai by K. C. S. Paniker and other artists of the Madras art movement, and it is described as the first self-supporting artists' commune in India, where painters and sculptors lived together and sold batik and metalwork to fund their studios. Option B is wrong because Bengaluru is associated with the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. Option C is wrong because Kochi is the home of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, first held in 2012, which is an exhibition and not a residential village. Option D is wrong because Hyderabad has no commune of this kind, though it houses the Salar Jung Museum, which is often confused into such questions. The pairing that papers set is the year 1966 with Paniker and with Chennai, so fix all three together; the Madras art movement is its background.