Indian Culture Questions and Answers

Answer: B

It is made from jackwood.

The Bobbili veena of Andhra Pradesh is carved from a single block of jackfruit wood - hence the name Ekanda, meaning one piece - resonator, neck and all, which is what gives it its sustained tone. It holds a GI tag.

Answer: C

It is the Udyoga Parva.

The fifth book of the Mahabharata covers the attempts at a settlement after the exile, including Krishna's embassy to Hastinapura, and ends with the failure of those efforts and the marshalling of the armies.

Answer: C

It was earlier called Sindhu Darshan.

The festival at Leh, begun in 1997, celebrates the Indus; it was renamed Singhe-Khababs, the Tibetan name for the river, meaning 'coming from the lion's mouth'.

Answer: C

Mansarovar is not.

The Char Dham named by Shankara are Badrinath in the north, Rameswaram in the south, Dwarka in the west and Puri in the east. Lake Mansarovar lies in Tibet, near Kailash, and is a place of pilgrimage but not one of the four.

Answer: C

They are exponents of Dhrupad.

The Gundecha brothers sing in the Dagar style, the oldest surviving form of Hindustani vocal music, marked by an extended unmetred alap and a grave, meditative delivery.

Answer: B

They are in Gujarat.

Shatrunjaya hill at Palitana carries some 863 Jain temples built over nine centuries, reached by about 3,800 steps. No one may stay on the hill overnight, not even a priest.

Answer: D

He belonged to the Mewati gharana.

Pandit Jasraj was its foremost exponent, and devised the Jasrangi jugalbandi, in which a male and a female voice sing different ragas simultaneously in their own registers.

Answer: A

It is dedicated to Shiva.

The Leaning Temple of Huma stands on the bank of the Mahanadi in Sambalpur district of Odisha, and the whole structure inclines to one side. No settled explanation for the tilt has been established.

Answer: B

It is a dance of Gujarat.

Dandiya Raas is danced with a pair of short sticks during Navratri, the striking of the sticks representing the fight between Durga and the demon Mahishasura. Garba is its circular, stickless companion.

Answer: A

They are held to be reincarnations of Avalokiteshvara.

The bodhisattva of compassion, called Chenrezig in Tibetan, is regarded as the patron of Tibet, and each Dalai Lama is understood to be his emanation, recognised as a child by signs and tests.