Art, Culture & National Symbols — PPSC previous year questions

Mohiniyattam, the 'dance of the enchantress', is the classical dance form of Kerala, performed traditionally by women in a graceful lasya style and dressed in white and gold Kasavu costume. Kerala's other classical form is Kathakali; Andhra Pradesh has Kuchipudi, Tamil Nadu Bharatanatyam and Karnataka Yakshagana as its well-known forms.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay composed 'Vande Mataram', the National Song, in Sanskrit. It appears in his 1882 novel Anandamath. It was first sung at the 1896 Calcutta session of the Congress. It was adopted as the National Song on 24 January 1950. Tagore wrote the National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'. Iqbal wrote 'Saare Jahan Se Achha'.

The Chandubi Festival is celebrated every New Year (from 1 January) on the banks of Chandubi Lake in Kamrup district, Assam. The natural lake was formed by the great Assam earthquake of 1897. The festival showcases the culture of the Rabha and other communities — ethnic food, folk dance and music, boating and local handloom — and promotes eco-tourism.

The Kamakhya temple, one of the oldest and most revered of the 51 Shakti Peethas, stands on Nilachal Hill in Guwahati, Assam, on the banks of the Brahmaputra. Rebuilt in 1565 by Koch king Naranarayan, it is famous for the annual Ambubachi Mela (June). Other famous Shakti Peethas: Kalighat (West Bengal), Tripura Sundari (Tripura) and Vaishno Devi (J&K).

'Sare Jahan Se Achha' (Tarana-e-Hind) was written in Urdu by the poet Muhammad Iqbal in 1904 and first published in the weekly Ittehad; it remains one of India's best-known patriotic songs. Tagore wrote 'Jana Gana Mana', while Bismil is remembered for 'Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna'.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus, so statement 1 is right. The Hornbill Festival is held every December at Kisama near Kohima. It shows Naga tribal culture, so statement 3 is correct. Gudi Padwa is the spring new-year festival of Maharashtra and the Konkan. It is not a winter Rajput festival of Rajasthan and Haryana. Navroz is the Parsi/Persian New Year, kept at the spring equinox. It has nothing to do with Ramzan.

Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–41) painted Bride's Toilet in 1937. It is part of her South Indian trilogy inspired by the Ajanta murals, along with Brahmacharis and South Indian Villagers Going to Market. Her portrait Lady Daljit Singh of Kapurthala dates from that period too. Her 1937 canvas The Story Teller sold at Saffronart in September 2023 for Rs 61.8 crore, then the highest price paid for a work of Indian art at auction; M.F. Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra) overtook it in March 2025, selling at Christie's New York for about Rs 118 crore. Raja Ravi Varma and Sobha Singh are known for oil portraits and Sikh religious art. Abanindranath Tagore belongs to the Bengal School.

Kashmir saffron, Hyderabad lac bangles and Majuli masks (Assam) are all registered as Geographical Indications (GI). A GI tag protects a product whose quality or reputation comes from its place of origin. Patents, trademarks and copyright protect inventions, brand marks and creative works respectively.

The Flag Code of India, 2002 says the National Flag must be rectangular. Its ratio of length to height (width) is 3:2. The flag has three equal horizontal bands — India saffron, white and India green. The navy-blue Ashoka Chakra, with 24 spokes, sits in the centre of the white band.

The State Emblem of India was adopted on 26 January 1950. It is taken from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath. Three lions are visible above an abacus. The abacus shows a Dharma Chakra in the centre, a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left. On the original capital an elephant and a lion complete the four animals, separated by wheels. The peacock is the national bird and does not appear on the emblem.