Minimalist IAS
Art & culture

Prelims · Art & culture · 18 questions

Architecture & sculpture

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Architecture & sculpture questions per year: 2016: 1, 2017: 1, 2018: 1, 2019: 1, 2020: 0, 2021: 2, 2022: 1, 2023: 1, 2024: 0, 2025: 0, 2026: 3 Asked in 8 of 11 years · most in 2026 (3)

Practising Art & culture? Take it as timed sets of 25 →

UPSC syllabus: “History of India and Indian National Movement.” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

बोधिसत्त्व पद्मपाणि का चित्र सर्वाधिक प्रसिद्ध और प्रायःचित्रित चित्रकारी है, जो

Read this question in English

The painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani is one of the most famous and oft-illustrated paintings at

(a) Ajanta · (b) Badami · (c) Bagh · (d) Ellora

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (a) अजंता में है

The famous Padmapani painting is in Cave No. 1 at Ajanta. NCERT names the Padmapani and Vajrapani paintings of Cave No. 1 among Ajanta's best-known works.

  • ✓ (a) NCERT lists ‘the famous Padmapani and Vajrapani in Cave No. 1’ among Ajanta's important paintings and notes that Cave No. 1 has the best-preserved examples.
  • ✗ (d) Ellora also has Padmapani, but as a carved image, one of the pair guarding the large Buddha figures in its shrines. The renowned painting is at Ajanta.

Remember · Padmapani and Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva paintings of Ajanta Cave No. 1, are among India's best-known ancient murals.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

निम्नलिखित में से कौन-सा/से सूर्य मंदिरों के लिए विख्यात है/हैं ?

  1. 1.अरसवल्ली
  2. 2.अमरकंटक
  3. 3.ओंकारेश्वर

नीचे दिए गए कूट का प्रयोग कर सही उत्तर चुनिए :

Read this question in English

Which of the following is/are famous for Sun temples?

1. Arasavalli

2. Amarakantak

3. Omkareshwar

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only · (b) 2 and 3 only · (c) 1 and 3 only · (d) 1, 2 and 3

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (a) केवल 1

Only Arasavalli, near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, is famous for a Sun temple. Amarkantak is known as the source of the Narmada, and Omkareshwar is a Shiva shrine with a Jyotirlinga.

  • ✓ 1. Arasavalli has the Suryanarayana Swamy temple, one of the few ancient Sun God temples in India. Its Ratha Saptami festival honours the Sun.
  • ✗ 2. Amarkantak is a plateau in Madhya Pradesh where the Narmada and the Son rise. It is a pilgrimage centre, not a Sun-temple site.
  • ✗ 3. Omkareshwar, on an island in the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, is a Shaiva site with one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva.

Remember · Arasavalli (Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh) has a famous Sun temple. Amarkantak is the source of the Narmada; Omkareshwar is a Jyotirlinga shrine of Shiva.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The Syllabus X-Ray of this topic

2 of its 9 sub-topics are High

0 Core · 2 High · 2 Steady · 5 Rare

  • HighTemple architecture: Nagara, Dravida, Vesara · 5 questions
  • HighRock-cut caves & stupas · 4 questions

The X-Ray ranks all 928 sub-topics of the UPSC syllabus by what UPSC has asked since 2016. The 60 Prelims Core sub-topics are behind 51% of Prelims questions.

See the whole X-Ray →

The same topic in Mains