Indian Culture Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The pair that is not matched correctly is Bhuiya - Rang-Bhang.

The Madia (Maria) Gonds keep the ghotul, the best known youth dormitory of the Bastar region. The Munda keep the gitiora and the Oraon the dhumkuria, so the pairs in A, B and D are correctly matched. The Bhuiya (Bhuyan) dormitory is the dhangarbasa, listed in the Wikipedia list of tribal youth dormitories, and the name Rang-Bhang (Rangbang) belongs to the Bhotia, so C is the mismatch.

The Rangbang attribution comes from an exam-prep site, a weaker source than the dhangarbasa entry, but the question needs only the Bhuiya pair to fail, and the Bhuyan dormitory is not Rang-Bhang on either source.

Answer: A

Swami Haridas, Tansen's teacher, belonged to Vrindavan.

Swami Haridas, a saint-musician of the sixteenth century, lived as an ascetic at Nidhivan in Vrindavan, where he composed devotional songs in the dhrupad style and founded the Haridasi (Sakhi) sect devoted to Krishna. According to tradition, Tansen learned music from him, and the story of Akbar travelling to Vrindavan in disguise to hear him sing is well known.

Agra and Delhi were the Mughal capitals where Tansen later served Akbar, and Mewar has no association with Haridas.

Answer: D

Painting known for its love of nature flourished under Jahangir.

Jahangir (1605-1627) was a keen naturalist, and his court artists produced remarkably accurate studies of birds, animals and flowers. Ustad Mansur, whom he titled Nadir-ul-Asr, painted the zebra, the turkey cock and Himalayan flowers, and Abul Hasan was another master of the period. Mughal painting reached its peak of naturalism under him.

Akbar's studios concentrated on illustrated manuscripts and court histories, Shah Jahan's period on formal portraits and splendour, and Dara Shikoh was a prince and patron, not the ruler of a painting period.

Answer: A

The Bhadam dance is related to the Bhariya tribe.

The Bharia (Bhariya) tribe, found mainly in Chhindwara and Jabalpur districts and especially in the Patalkot valley, performs the Bhadam (Bhadoni) dance on festive and wedding occasions.

The Baiga are known for the Karma dance, the Sahariya for the Lahangi dance and the Bhil for the dances of the Bhagoria festival, so the Bhadam dance does not belong to them.

Answer: A

The key gives Gwalior.

Gwalior, Morena, Guna and Datiya are neighbouring districts of northern Madhya Pradesh, so the options are all plausible places for a regional fair, and the key names Gwalior.

I could not find any source naming the Hira Bhoomiya fair or saying where it is held, so I could not confirm the location or tell which district is meant, and nothing found shows the key wrong. The answer rests only on the Commission's key and is kept as printed.

Answer: C

Bhairavgarh is famous for the clothing industry.

Bhairavgarh near Ujjain is known for Bhairavgarh print, a traditional hand block printing of cloth using natural dyes and wax resist, practised by the Chhipa community for centuries.

The other crafts belong elsewhere: wooden work and toys are associated with places such as Budhni, sculpture with stone-carving centres, and Madhya Pradesh has no notable glass industry at Bhairavgarh.

Answer: C

The Shri Badal Bhoi State Tribal Museum is at Chhindwara.

The State tribal museum in Chhindwara is named after Badal Bhoi, a tribal freedom fighter of Chhindwara district who took part in the forest satyagraha against British forest laws. It displays the dress, ornaments, tools and dwellings of the State's tribes.

Rewa, Balaghat and Mandla do not house this museum.

Tribal museums of this kind preserve the material culture of communities such as the Gond, Baiga and Bharia, and serve as research centres for anthropology in the region.

Answer: A

The keyed answer is Makar Sankranti.

Nandchand is a village in Panna district with remains of the Kalachuri period. The official key names Makar Sankranti, the mid-January harvest festival, as the occasion of its fair, and fairs are a common feature of that festival across central India. What could not be confirmed is a published source that names the occasion of the Nand-Chand fair, so this rests on the official key.

Holi, Dussehra and Dipawali are all major festivals, and a reader without the local fact has no way to eliminate them by reasoning, so the answer should be learned as a fact of Madhya Pradesh fairs and festivals.

Answer: D

Lala Hardaul is a folk deity of Bundelkhand.

Hardaul was a seventeenth-century Bundela prince of Orchha, the younger brother of Jujhar Singh, who according to legend was poisoned after being falsely suspected. He came to be worshipped across Bundelkhand, with small platforms (chabutaras) in villages, and he is invoked especially at weddings to keep away storms and trouble.

Malwa, Baghelkhand and Nimad are other cultural regions of Madhya Pradesh with their own folk deities; the Hardaul cult belongs to the Bundela country around Orchha, Tikamgarh and Jhansi.

Answer: D

Pithora painting belongs to the Bhil tribe.

Pithora paintings are ritual wall paintings made by Bhil and Bhilala communities, including the Rathwa, in western Madhya Pradesh and eastern Gujarat, especially in the Jhabua and Alirajpur region. Brightly coloured horses, riders and scenes of daily life are painted on the house wall to honour the deity Pithora, often to fulfil a vow.

The Gond are known for their own dot-and-line painting style; the Kol and Sahariya are not associated with Pithora.