Indian Culture MCQs

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The Mahabharata was translated into Persian at Akbar’s orders, by Faizi and `Abd al-Qadir Bada’uni (c. 1540 – 1615) and named Razmnameh.

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The lamentation of the Roman writer Pliny in the 1st century A.D refers to heavy drain of Gold from Roman into India in payment of her imports from India. He writes that the drain of Gold is in return for unproductive luxuries. The Roman gold and silver were steadily drained into South India in exchange not only for spices, but also muslin, silk and other costly luxuries.

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The Dilwara temples are located at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. These temples appear simple from outside but the interior showcase the extraordinary work of human craftsmanship. These Jain temples were built by Vimal Shah and designed by Vastupala, Jain minister of Dholka.

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Matrimandir is a spiritual center located in Auroville, in the Union Territory of Puducherry, which is also known as Pondicherry. It is situated in the southern part of India, about 160 kilometers south of Chennai. Auroville was founded in 1968 as an experiment in human unity and international understanding, and it is home to people from over 50 different countries. The Matrimandir is a central feature of Auroville and is considered a symbol of the town’s spiritual and philosophical ideals.

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Sylheti is a language spoken by the Sylheti people, who are primarily found in the Sylhet Division of northeastern Bangladesh and in the adjacent parts of the Indian state of Assam. Sylheti is part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan language group and is closely related to Bengali, the national language of Bangladesh. It is written in the Bengali script and has its own distinctive vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Sylheti is spoken by around 15 million people and is an important language for commerce and education in the Sylhet region. It is also used as a literary language, and there is a rich tradition of Sylheti poetry, prose, and drama.

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Rishi Aurobindo was a philosopher, yogi, guru, poet, and nationalist of India. He studied Indian Civil Service at King’s College, England. New Lamps for Old was written by him and published in 1893. He citicized the Moderate politics through a series of articles.

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The only Dravidian language spoken entirely outside of India is Brahui. Brahui is spoken by over 2 million people, mostly in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Smaller groups of Brahui speakers are also found in Afghanistan, Irani Balochistan, and the Marw oasis in Turkmenistan.

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In post Gupta period, a great treatise only after Natya Shastra was composed in Sanskrit as Brihaddeshi by Matanga Muni. Brihaddeshi is the first text that speaks about raga and distinguishes the music genres into Marga Sangeet (Classical Music) and Desi Sangeet (Folk Music). Brihaddeshi was also the important work on Indian music before the Islam came and influenced the Indian music. Brihaddeshi was based upon the Natya Shastra itself and has clarified many things which were unclear in the Bharata’s text.

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Panchavadyam, a rhythmic orchestra, that may feature more than 100 artists, playing five (pancha) different kind of instruments, is one of the major ingredients of the Pooram festivals. The term panchavadyam literally means an orchestra of five instruments. It is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka — belong to the percussion category, while the fifth, the kombu, is a wind instrument. (PIB Features)

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Dhrupad was developed as a part of worship in temples and various rituals such as yajnas. Gudiya Govarhar, Khandar, Dagar & Nauhar are four distinct gharanas of Dhrupad.