1. Bobbili veena, also known as Saraswathi Veena or the Ekanda Veena, is a large plucked string instrument used in Carnatic classical music. It is made from which of the following trees?
[A] Sandalwood
[B] Jackwood
[C] Bamboo
[D] Rosewood
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Jackwood]
Notes:
Bobbili veena, also known as Saraswathi Veena or the Ekanda Veena, is a large plucked string instrument used in Carnatic classical music. It is carved from a single piece of Jackwood. Jackwood is a rainforest tree.
2. Which is the largest Indian museum?
[A] Nizam’s Museum
[B] Salar Jung Museum
[C] AP state Archaeology Museum
[D] Indian Museum Kolkata
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Indian Museum Kolkata]
Notes:
Indian Museum Kolkata is the largest museum in India. It was founded by 1814. It is also the oldest Indian museum.
3. Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental truths of which of the following religion?
[A] Jainism
[B] Buddhism
[C] Islam
[D] Hinduism
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Buddhism]
Notes:
There are four noble truths of Buddhism:a. The world is full of sorrowb. Desire is the cause of sorrowc. If desire is conquered all sorrow is won overd. Desire can be conquered by following eight fold paths (Ashtangirka Marg)
4. Gathas are most sacred of the texts of which of the following faiths?
[A] Zoroastrianism
[B] Jainism
[C] Confucianism
[D] Buddhism
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Zoroastrianism]
Notes:
The Gathas are 17 Avestan hymns believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra himself. They are most sacred of the texts of Zorastrianism. They form the core of the Zoroastrian liturgy. They are arranged in five different modes or metres.
5. The word Chenrezig in the Tibetan Buddhism refers to which among the following Bodhisatvas ?
[A] Avalokiteshwara
[B] Maitreya
[C] Mahasthamaprapta
[D] Akasagarbha
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Avalokiteshwara]
Notes:
Chenrezig in the Tibetan Buddhism refers to Avalokiteshwara. Avalokiteshwara is a combination of Ava meaning down, Lokita meaning to behold or observe the world and Eshwara meaning sovereign, master or ruler. Hence Avalokiteshwara implies ‘The lord who gazes down at the world’.
6. The collection of Meera Bai’s devotional songs or poems are known as ?
[A] Chand
[B] Padavali
[C] Avangas
[D] None of the above
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Padavali]
Notes:
Meera Bai was a Rajput Princess of Merta and daughter-in-law of Rana Sanga of Mewar. She was a great worshipper of Krishna and her collection of devotional songs or poems viz. Mere to Girdhar Gopal doosro na koi, etc. are known as Padavali.
7. Who among the following authors wrote “Akbarshahi Srigardarpan”?
[A] Siddhichandra Upadhayaya
[B] Bhimsen
[C] Padma Shankar
[D] Jagannatha Pandit
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Padma Shankar]
Notes:
The Jain scholar, Padma Shankar wrote Akbar-Shahi Srinagar Darpan.
8. Who among the following founded Brahmo Samaj? (UPSC Prelims 1989)
[A] Raja Ram Mohan Roy
[B] David Hare
[C] Derozio
[D] Alexander
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Raja Ram Mohan Roy]
Notes:
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic. It was started at Calcutta on 20 August 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore.
9. Which one of the following does not indicate the difference between Mahayanism and Hinayanism? (UPSC Prelims 1991)
[A] Belief in the Bodhisattvas
[B] Worship of the image of Buddha
[C] Use of the Sanskrit language
[D] Admission of women into the monasteries
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Admission of women into the monasteries]
Notes:Hinayana Buddhism
1. Followed as a teaching or Philosophy not as a religion. No idol worship.
2. Followed mostly Ceylon (Sri-Lanka).
3. Early work written in Pali language.
4. Buddha is followed like a human because they think The Buddha was simply a man who found a way to Nirvana. As per their believe Siddhartha Gautama (actual name of Buddha) didn’t know how to meditate in his early life and he learn that and master himself in it and so couldn’t have been a God.
Mahayana Buddhism
1-Followed with reference to higher beings, more like a religion. Idol worship.
2-Followed mostly in the North and West, covering China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, India, Thailand.
3-Early texts were in Sanskrit like Karma, Dharma.
4. Buddha is worship like a God because they think that the Buddha came down to earth to help people cross the sea of life. So the Buddha can be worshipped as a God because he is eternal and a leader.
10. Who is the director of the film “The Making of the Mahatma”? (UPSC Prelims 1997)
[A] Peter Ustinov
[B] Richard Attenborough
[C] Shyam Benegal
[D] Mira Nair
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Shyam Benegal]
Notes:
Shyam Benegal is an Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur, Nishant, Manthan and Bhumika he was part of a new genre, which has now come to be called the “middle cinema” in India. He has expressed dislike of the term, preferring his work to be called New or Alternate cinema.
