Art and Culture Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 16)

Kongali Bihu is a quieter, more solemn festival, marking a lean stretch when granaries run low, distinct from the joyful Rongali Bihu.

Rongali Bihu, also called Bohag Bihu, falls in mid-April and marks the Assamese New Year and the start of sowing.

Karva Chauth is most widely observed in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, though its reach has since spread across urban India and the diaspora.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) features a widely remembered Karva Chauth scene between Raj and Simran, played by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. The scene is widely credited with helping spread the festival beyond its original north Indian base, including among the Indian diaspora.

Veeravati’s brothers, unable to watch her suffer through the fast, held a lit lamp behind a sieve placed in a tree, making it look like the moon had risen. This legend is said to explain the modern ritual of viewing the real moon through a sieve before eating.

Karva tied the crocodile with cotton thread and prayed to Yama, the god of death, to spare her husband. When Yama refused, she threatened to curse him, and he relented, restoring her husband’s life and sending the crocodile to hell instead.

“Karva” means an earthen pot, and “Chauth” means the fourth day — the festival falls on the fourth day after the full moon in the month of Kartik. A decorated sieve (chhalni) is used for the moon-viewing ritual, and sargi is the pre-dawn meal, but neither gives the festival its name.

The day is commemorated each year at UN Headquarters in New York and at UN offices worldwide, following its 1999 recognition by the General Assembly.

Not every Buddhist tradition agrees on the Triple Blessed reading. Theravada Buddhism follows it most closely, holding that birth, enlightenment, and death all fell on this date.

The UN General Assembly passed Resolution 54/115 in 1999, recognising the Day of Vesak and Buddhism’s contribution to human spirituality over more than two and a half millennia.

Buddha Purnima falls on the full moon day of Vaishakha. The name Vesak itself comes from "Vesakha," the Pali name for this month.

Buddha Purnima is called the "Triple Blessed Day" because tradition holds that the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death all fell on the same date.

Mahashivratri 2026 coincided with the last snan parv of Prayagraj’s Magh Mela, with around 10 lakh devotees having already taken the holy dip.

During the Samudra Manthan, a deadly poison called halahala emerged from the churning ocean. Shiva held it in his throat rather than swallowing it, turning his throat blue.

The correct answer is Bhasma Aarti. It is a daily ritual at Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain, begun every morning at 4 to awaken Shiva. The temple is the only Jyotirlinga temple where it is performed.

The festival falls on Chaturdashi, the 14th day of the waning moon, in the month of Phalguna or Magha depending on the calendar used.

Mahashivratri combines three Sanskrit words: maha (great), Shiva, and ratri (night) — literally, the Great Night of Shiva.

The story traces to James Tod, a 19th-century British historian whose romanticised accounts of Rajput history inserted this chivalrous episode — not to any contemporary Mughal or Mewar source.

The story appears in no contemporary Greek source on Alexander’s campaign — not Arrian, Diodorus, or Quintus Curtius Rufus. It appears to trace instead to the 1941 Hindi film Sikandar.

The popular story names Rani Karnavati of Chittor. But historians like Satish Chandra call it a fable — no contemporary Mughal or Mewar record mentions any such episode.

The Bhavishya Purana describes the goddess Indrani tying a protective thread on her husband Indra before he went into battle — the oldest scriptural account of the ritual.

Raksha Bandhan falls on Shravan Purnima, the full moon day of the Hindu month of Shravan.

Guru Gobind Singh started Hola Mohalla to show Sikh martial skills and promote community unity.

In Lathmar Holi, women beat men with sticks. In Hola Mohalla, Sikh warriors show martial skills at Anandpur Sahib.

A total lunar eclipse falls on 3 March 2026, the same day as Holika Dahan, shifting the traditional timing for the bonfire ritual.