Indian Culture MCQs

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Santhara, also known as Sallekhana, is an important religious ritual in Jainism. It refers to a practice of voluntary death achieved through fasting. The tradition believes it to purify the soul and release it from the cycle of death and rebirth. Contrary to being considered suicide, it is viewed as an act of spiritual liberation and is usually undertaken after giving away all belongings, entering a state of meditation, and securing permission from spiritual authorities. It remains a controversial subject in modern-day law, due to issues about the legality and morality of death by self-starvation.

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Maitreya is a future Buddha. . According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor of the historic Sakyamuni Buddha, who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma.

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Madai festival is a popular festival of Chhattisgarh. The festival reflects the rich culture and tradition of the state. The Madai Festival is celebrated by people belonging to the Gond Tribe.

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Amir Khusro was a Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya. He was a poet as well as prolific musician. He is regarded as the “father of qawwali”. He is also credited with enriching Indian classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it, and was the originator of the khayal and tarana styles of music. Khayal later reached to its zenith during the times of Mohammad Shah Rangila and today is integral part of Hindustani classical music.

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Bihu is the name of the biggest festival of the Assam. The people in Assam celebrate three Bihus as follows:
Bohag Bihu: In mid-April, this is the largest festival and also the state festival of Assam. Related to spring season. It is also known as Rongali Bihu. This festival celebrates the onset of the Assamese New Year and the coming of Spring. It continues for seven days which is called Haat Bihu ( Saat (seven) for Hindi). These are called Chot Bihu, Goru Bihu, Manuh Bihu, Kutum Bihu, Senehi Bihu, Mela Bihu and Chera Bihu

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Vaisheshika is one of the six schools of Indian philosophy from ancient India. It is the theory of logic. In its early stages, the Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, and soteriology.

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Amrita Sher-Gil was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called “one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century” and a “pioneer” in modern Indian art. She was elected as Associate of the Grand Salon in Paris in 1933.

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The Barabar Hill Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India. It is located in Bihar.

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Gundecha brothers are well known exponents of Dhrupad. They are classical singers of the dhrupad genre of the Dagar vani. From 1985 to 2019 the duo consisted of brothers Umakant Gundecha and Ramakant Gundecha and were awarded the Padma Shri for art for 2012.

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The 13th century saint of Andhra, Acharya Nimbarka is known for propagating the Vaishnava Theology of Dvaitadvaita (duality in unity) also known as Bhedabheda (Difference in Non-difference). According to him, the Brahmans, the souls and the world are identical yet distinct. Even after merger, they remain distinct. He was the founder of Sanak Sampradaya of Vaishnavism. The works attributed to him are Vedanta Parijata Saurabha (a short story on Brahma Sutras) , Dashashloki, Shri Krishnastava raja and Madhvamukavardhana.