Festivals, UNESCO heritage & miscellany

Answer: (a) Ecuador

Tungurahua is an active stratovolcano in the Ecuadorian Andes, near the town of Baños. UNESCO designated the Tungurahua Volcano UNESCO Global Geopark, covering about 239,700 hectares, in 2025, with Ecuador as the country.

• ✓ (a) UNESCO lists the geopark as located in the Ecuadorian Andes, designated in 2025, country Ecuador.
• ✗ (b) Peru's volcanic landmarks such as Misti and Sabancaya lie in the southern Andes; Tungurahua is not among them.
• ✗ (d) Colombia's active volcanoes include Nevado del Ruiz and Galeras; Tungurahua lies south of the border, in central Ecuador.

Remember · Tungurahua ('throat of fire'): active volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes; UNESCO Global Geopark since 2025, next to Sangay and Llanganates National Parks.

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

Answer: (c) 3 only

The Moidams of Charaideo in Assam are the mound-burial system of the Tai-Ahom dynasty. They are burial mounds for Ahom kings, queens and nobles, so only the statement about burial grounds is correct.

• ✗ 1. The Moidams were not fortresses. They are burial mounds, and Charaideo served as the Ahom royal necropolis.
• ✗ 2. They were places of burial and ancestor reverence, not recreation centres. The name itself comes from a Tai phrase linked to burying the dead and the spirit of the deceased.
• ✓ 3. The Moidams are burial mounds constructed for Ahom kings, queens and nobles.
• ✗ 4. They served as tombs, not as places for battle drills or military training.

Remember · Moidams of Charaideo, Assam: burial mounds of Ahom kings, queens and nobles; mound-burial system of the Ahom dynasty, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2024.

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

Answer: (c) Garba dance

Garba of Gujarat is the most recent of the four, inscribed in December 2023. The other three were listed earlier: Chhau dance in 2010, Kumbh Mela in 2017 and Durga Puja in Kolkata in 2021.

• ✓ (c) UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee inscribed Garba of Gujarat on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at its 18th session in Kasane, Botswana, in December 2023. It was India's 15th inscription.
• ✗ (d) Kumbh Mela was inscribed in 2017 (12th session of the Committee), six years before Garba.
• ✗ (b) Durga Puja in Kolkata was inscribed in 2021 (16th session), two years before Garba.
• ✗ (a) Chhau dance is the oldest of the four, inscribed in 2010 (5th session).

Remember · Chhau 2010, Kumbh Mela 2017, Durga Puja in Kolkata 2021, Garba of Gujarat 2023 (India's 15th ICH inscription).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two

UNESCO's own records show two of the four were inscribed in 2023: Santiniketan and the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas. Rani-ki-Vav joined the World Heritage List in 2014 and the Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya in 2002.

• ✓ 1. Santiniketan, the residential school and art centre set up by Rabindranath Tagore in rural West Bengal in 1901, was inscribed in 2023. UNESCO spells it Santiniketan.
• ✗ 2. Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen's Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat, was inscribed in 2014.
• ✓ 3. This serial property of three Hoysala temple complexes in Karnataka (Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura) was inscribed in 2023.
• ✗ 4. The Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya in Bihar was inscribed much earlier, in 2002.

Remember · India's 2023 World Heritage additions: Santiniketan and the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas. Rani-ki-Vav is 2014; the Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya is 2002.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Statements 1 and 3 are correct; statement 2 fails on one point. Francis Xavier died in 1552 on Sancian island off the coast of China, not in Goa; only his remains rest in Goa, in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

• ✓ 1. In Paris he joined Ignatius of Loyola and Peter Faber; with four others they professed vows at Montmartre on 15 August 1534, the nucleus of the Society of Jesus, which the Jesuits' own site counts as its seven founding companions.
• ✗ 2. He fell ill and died on 3 December 1552 on Sancian (Shangchuan) island off the coast of China, waiting to enter the mainland. His tomb is in the Church of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, which is why the statement is tempting.
• ✓ 3. His feast is on 3 December, and Goa marks it every year with novenas and the feast at the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa.

Remember · Francis Xavier: a founding Jesuit (1534), died 3 December 1552 off China; his relics lie in the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa (UNESCO site); feast on 3 December.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 2

Chapchar Kut belongs to Mizoram and Khongjom Parba to Manipur, so pairs 1 and 2 are right. Thang-Ta is a martial art of Manipur, not of Sikkim.

• ✓ 1. Chapchar Kut is Mizoram's spring festival, held in March after the jungle-clearing work of jhum (shifting) cultivation is over.
• ✓ 2. Khongjom Parba is a ballad tradition of Manipur, sung to the dholak. It narrates the Battle of Khongjom fought between the Manipuris and the British in April 1891.
• ✗ 3. Thang-Ta (thang means sword, ta means spear) is the martial art of the Meitei people of Manipur. It has no link with Sikkim.

Remember · Chapchar Kut: Mizoram. Khongjom Parba: Manipur (the 1891 Anglo-Manipuri battle). Thang-Ta: Manipur's sword-and-spear martial art.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

Sankirtana, inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, is the ritual singing, drumming and dancing of the Vaishnava people of the Manipur plains. Performers tell the life and deeds of Krishna through song and dance, and drums are central to it, so cymbals are not the only instruments.

• ✓ 1. It combines singing and dancing, performed in a temple hall or courtyard with devotees seated around the performers.
• ✗ 2. UNESCO describes a typical performance as two drummers with about ten singer-dancers, and its very title reads 'singing, drumming and dancing'; so drums are as central as cymbals.
• ✓ 3. UNESCO describes performers narrating the lives and deeds of Krishna through song and dance.

Remember · Sankirtana (Manipur): Vaishnava ritual singing, drumming and dancing that narrates Krishna's life; on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2013.

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 · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only pair 1 is correct: Chaliha Sahib is a 40-day festival of the Sindhis. Nanda Raj Jaat is a pilgrimage in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and the Wari is a pilgrimage of Maharashtra, so neither belongs to the Gonds or the Santhals.

• ✓ 1. Chaliha Sahib is a 40-day period of austerity and prayers that Sindhis observe for Bhagwan Jhulelal Saeen, the god of water.
• ✗ 2. The Nanda Devi Raj Jat (Nanda Raj Jaat) is a pilgrimage of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, held once in 12 years, in which Goddess Nanda's palanquin is carried towards the Himalayas. It is not a Gond tradition.
• ✗ 3. The Wari, the regular annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur, is described by NCERT as an 800-year-old tradition in Maharashtra. It has no link with the Santhals.

Remember · Chaliha Sahib: Sindhis (40 days, Jhulelal). Nanda Raj Jat: Uttarakhand, every 12 years. Wari-Warkari: Maharashtra, Pandharpur.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 8 (practise this chapter)

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 · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

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)

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 · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 5 only

Only pairs 2 and 5 are correct: Khajuraho lies in Bundelkhand and Tirupati in Rayalaseema. Bodh Gaya is in Bihar, Shirdi is in Ahmednagar district (not in Vidarbha), and Nashik is in Maharashtra, so pairs 1, 3 and 4 name the wrong region.

• ✗ 1. Bodh Gaya is in Gaya district of Bihar, about 115 km south of Patna (UNESCO). Baghelkhand is a region of Madhya Pradesh, which includes the Rewa division.
• ✓ 2. The Madhya Pradesh government's Bundelkhand tourism portal lists the temples of Khajuraho among the Bundela and Chandela attractions of Bundelkhand.
• ✗ 3. Shirdi is a village in Ahmednagar (now Ahilyanagar) district of Maharashtra. The Government of Maharashtra describes Vidarbha as the Amravati and Nagpur divisions, whose districts are Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal, Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli; Ahmednagar is not among them.
• ✗ 4. Nashik is in Maharashtra (the Amravati division page lists a Nashik Division of the State). Malwa is a plateau region of Madhya Pradesh, as NCERT's mention of the Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh shows.
• ✓ 5. An expert committee report published by the Ministry of Home Affairs describes the Rayalaseema arc as made up of Kurnool, Anantapur, Tirupathi, Kadapa and Chittoor, so Tirupati belongs to Rayalaseema.

Remember · Khajuraho = Bundelkhand; Tirupati = Rayalaseema. Bodh Gaya is in Bihar, Shirdi (Ahmednagar) and Nashik are in Maharashtra, outside Vidarbha and Malwa.

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

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error