Indian Culture MCQs

Notes:
Baul are a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal. Bauls constitute both a syncretic religious sect and a musical tradition. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims. They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Not much is known of their origin. Lalon Fakir is regarded as the most important poet-practitioner of the Baul tradition. Baul music had a great influence on Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry and on his music (Rabindra Sangeet). Though Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO.

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Dappu Dance belongs to Andhra Pradesh.The Dappu is made of goatskin, a tambourine-like drum is beaten with sticks creating a rhythm that is softened only by the ankle bells that the 16 to 20 dancers wear.

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Siddhendra Yogi from Bhamakalapam dance drama developed the classical dance of Kuchpudi. The play Bhamakalpam deals with the Hindu God, Lord Krishna and his companions Satyabhama and Rukmini.

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Darbhanga Castle is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in Prayagraj, next to Allahabad University. Interestingly, despite its name which might suggest a connection to Darbhanga in Bihar, it is in fact based in Uttar Pradesh. This castle illustrates the rich and diverse architectural history of India, with its stylistic influences drawn from a range of periods and locations.

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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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Vyuhavada is a Hindu philosophy related to Bhagwatism. So it is associated with the Vaishnavism.

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Tulsidas ji belonged to Saguna school of Bhakti Kal. He is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas ( a story of Lord Rama in hindi) and the other works composed by him are Vinaypatrika, Kavitavali, Janaki Mangal, Gitavali, etc.

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Saga Dawa festival marks the life of Buddha. Buddha Jayanti in Bhutia language is called Saga Dawa.

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The book Matoshree is based on the life of Maratha Queen Ahilyabai Holkar. The book was written by former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the book in New Delhi on April 11, 2017.
The book covers the life of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, who ruled the Holkar Empire from 1767 to 1795. The Holkar Empire was located in the Malwa region.

Notes:
• Prarthana Samaj was a movement for religious and social reform in Bombay based on earlier reform movements. Prarthana Samaj was founded by Atmaram Pandurang in 1867 when Kesab Chandra sen visited Maharashtra.
• 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.
• Vivekananda went on lecture tours and held private discourses on Hinduism and spirituality. He also founded the first Vedanta Society in the United States at New York. He returned to India in 1897 and founded the Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897.