Art and Culture Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 18)

Chausath Yogini temples typically have 65 shrine chambers in their circular boundary wall — 64 for the Yoginis, plus one for the Devi.

The correct answer is 660 million. The government counted 66.30 crore, or 663 million, over 45 days. Memory hook: 66 crore is 660 million.

The correct answer is 2017. UNESCO’s committee met at Jeju, South Korea, from 4 to 9 December 2017. Memory hook: 2017, Jeju.

The correct answer is once every 144 years, only at Prayagraj. Incredible India says Prayag hosts the Maha Kumbh every 144 years. Memory hook: 12 times 12.

The correct answer is Varanasi. The four sites are Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Varanasi is a holy city but not a Kumbh site. Memory hook: Ganga, Ganga, Shipra, Godavari.

Kumbh Mela’s mythological origin lies in the Samudra Manthan, when drops of the nectar of immortality fell at four sites on Earth.

‘Fire Bird,’ Murugan’s twelfth novel, won the 2023 JCB Prize for Literature in its English translation by Janani Kannan.

‘Pyre’ (Tamil: Pookkuzhi) became the first Tamil novel to be longlisted for the International Booker Prize, in 2023.

The Madras High Court dismissed the case, called for Murugan’s ‘resurrection’ as a writer, and ruled that the apology he had been pressured into was not legally binding.

After caste-based groups protested and burned copies of his novel, Murugan posted that ‘Perumal Murugan, the writer, is dead,’ announcing he would stop writing.

Murugan was born on 15 October 1966 near Thiruchengodu, Namakkal district, into a farming family with small agricultural holdings.

The sitar grew out of blending the Persian setar with the older Indian veena tradition.

It is a pear-shaped lute, with 24 frets, 4 melody strings, and 3 drone strings.

Sahitya Akademi’s two dedicated centres are the North-East Centre for Oral Literature (NECOL) and the Centre for Oral and Tribal Literature (COTLIT) in New Delhi.

Gor Boli borrows local scripts where written: Devanagari in Maharashtra, Kannada in Karnataka, and Telugu in Andhra Pradesh. It otherwise survives through oral tradition.

The Pahwa Committee (1996) and the Sitakant Mohapatra Committee (2003, report submitted 2004) both attempted to fix inclusion criteria, and both efforts remained inconclusive.

Gor Boli is the language of the Banjara community, also known as Lambani, Lamani, Sugali, or Gormati in different regions.

Estimates vary widely; Guinness once credited him with 28,000 by 1984, but later withdrew the entry in 1991.

He received the Padma Shri in 1967, a year before his only National Film Award.

They disagreed over whether singers should get a share of producers’ royalties, and stopped recording duets for nearly 3 years.

He sang his first Hindi film song as a duet with G.M. Durrani, in “Gaon Ki Gori” (1944).

Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, and Mukesh all revered him as their musical Guru.

He sang all his own songs live, on camera — he was not a playback singer in the strict sense.

He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1981; the Padma Bhushan followed later, in 1992.

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan sang for the film, a rare film appearance by a classical artist of his stature.