Indian Architecture Questions and Answers

Answer: C

A damaged carved part of the Sanchi gateway is restored by replacing it with a plain piece of similar stone. The accepted conservation rule is that a missing carved portion must not be re-carved or faked, because a new carving would pass as original work. A plain block of matching stone keeps the structure sound and the repair can be told from the old work at sight.

Plastering hides the original stone and weathers differently. A matching carved block is a reproduction that falsifies the record. Leaving the portion cleaned and as it is does nothing for the structural loss, so it is not what is done when a part of the gateway has gone.

Answer: A

The painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani Avalokiteshvara is in Cave I at Ajanta. It is the best known figure of Ajanta: the Bodhisattva holds a lotus and wears a jewelled crown, and the cave belongs to the later Mahayana phase of about the 5th century AD.

Caves IX, XVI and XVII have other paintings: Cave IX a stupa-hall with early work, Cave XVI the dying princess, and Cave XVII the Buddha's return to Kapilavastu and the Wheel of Life. The Padmapani figure is not in them.

Answer: C

The Panchavrishni Viras are the five heroes of the Vrishni clan (Sankarshana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha), worshipped in the early Bhagavata or Vaishnava tradition. Their images and coins show that they were part of Vaishnavism.

They have no place in Jainism, Buddhism or Shaivism, whose objects of worship are the Tirthankaras, the Buddha and Shiva respectively.

Answer: D

Gandhara art was influenced by Greco-Roman art. Its sculpture, with figures in drapery in the manner of Hellenistic and Roman statues, wavy hair and Apollo-like faces, applied these western forms to Buddhist themes, so it is also called the Graeco-Buddhist school.

Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Central Asian art were not its main source. Central Asian influence came in the later phases and in the monasteries of the north-west but the formative influence was Greco-Roman.

Answer: C

The correct matching is a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii. The Virupaksha Temple at Hampi belongs to Vijayanagara, the Sun Temple at Konark to the Eastern Gangas, the Lakshmana Temple at Khajuraho to the Chandellas, and the Channakeshava Temple at Belur to the Hoysalas.

The other codes give the Sun Temple to the Chandellas or the Channakeshava temple to the Gangas, which is wrong. Only option C matches all four.

Answer: B

The correct matching is a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii. The Parkham Yaksha is from Mathura, the dancing Nataraja bronze belongs to Madurai in the Tamil tradition, the Trimurti is the great sculpture at Elephanta, and the Shalabhanjika (tree goddess) is carved on the gateways of Sanchi.

The other codes give the Yaksha to Sanchi or the Trimurti to Madurai, which does not agree. So option B, iii iv i ii, is right.

Answer: A

The key gives the order Sirima Devata (ii), the sun icon in paryankalalitasana (iv), Ravana shaking Kailasa (i) and Kalyanasundara Murti (iii). The Sirima Devata is a Bharhut sculpture of about the 2nd century BC. The sun icon comes after it, in the Kushana to Gupta period, the Ravana Kailasa scene is of Ellora and other temples of about the 8th century, and the Kalyanasundara Murti is a still later Shaiva image of the Pallava and Chola temples.

The other options begin with the Ravana or Kalyanasundara sculptures, which are of the early medieval age, so they are wrong.

Answer: C

Both (A) and (R) are false. The art of cave painting was not introduced by the Gupta rulers. Prehistoric rock paintings such as those of Bhimbetka are thousands of years older, and the Ajanta caves have paintings from the Satavahana period (Cave IX and X) before the Guptas.

The reason is false too: cave painting was known in other periods of Indian history. So the options that call either statement correct are wrong.

Answer: A

(A) is correct and (R) is false. The Panchayatana type of temple, with a main shrine and four subsidiary shrines at the corners, was introduced in the Gupta period, as seen in the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh.

The reason is false because the later dynasties did follow this style: the Panchayatana plan continued in the temples of the Pratiharas, Chandellas and others. So the options that call (R) correct are wrong.

Answer: A

Didarganj in Bihar is known for a stone figure of a Yakshi.

The Didarganj Yakshi, found in 1917 on the bank of the Ganga near Patna, is a polished sandstone female figure of the Mauryan period, known for its fine finish. It is now in the Patna Museum.

The Yaksha figures come from other sites, such as Parkham and Patna. Siva and the elephant are not the subject of this find, so the other options are rejected.