Which one of the following Carnatic music ragas is similar to Raga Bilawal in Hindustani music?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (d) Dheera Shankarabharanam
Bilawal is the Hindustani scale in which all seven notes are shuddha (natural). The Carnatic scale with exactly these notes is Dheera Shankarabharanam, the 29th melakarta, so the two are treated as equivalents (both match the Western major scale).
✓(d)Dheera Shankarabharanam, the 29th mela, uses the same natural notes as Bilawal; the NIOS Carnatic music course names Shankarabharana as Bilaval's equivalent.
✗(a)Natabhairavi (20th mela) has flat ga, dha and ni, so it corresponds to the Hindustani Asavari thaat, not Bilawal.
✗(c)Hanumatodi (8th mela) uses flat re, ga, dha and ni; its Hindustani counterpart is the Bhairavi thaat.
Remember · Bilawal thaat (all shuddha notes) = Dheera Shankarabharanam, 29th melakarta = Western major scale.
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 ·
The Hallisalasya painting in the Bagh Caves represents:
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (a) A joyous folk dance
Hallisa (hallisaka) is the old Sanskrit name for a circular dance performed by women under the direction of a man. The Bagh paintings, whose richest decoration NCERT places in Cave 4 (the Rang Mahal), include a lively group of women around a central dancing figure with musicians, a secular scene of celebration rather than a religious icon.
✓(a)The Bagh survey of 1927 describes women standing around a central figure who dances, with musicians playing a hand-drum, wooden sticks and cymbals: a festive folk dance.
✗(b)Bagh's caves are Buddhist viharas, which makes this option tempting, but the Hallisalasya panel is a dance scene, not an image of the Buddha.
✗(c)Shiva and Parvati on Kailasha is a theme of Brahmanical sculpture, not of the Bagh dance panel.
Remember · Bagh Caves (Dhar, Madhya Pradesh): Buddhist viharas; Cave 4 is the Rang Mahal; its dance panel (Hallisaka) shows women around a central figure with musicians.
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, the famous classical singer from Karnataka, represented the:
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (d) Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana
Mallikarjun Mansur of Dharwad was a Hindustani classical singer of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. Manji Khan, the eldest son of Alladiya Khan, who founded that gharana, took him as a pupil.
✓(d)The Dharwad district's own account records that Manji Khan, eldest son of Alladiya Khan, the founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, took Mansur under his wings; The Hindu also calls him an artiste of the Atrauli gharana.
✗(b)Mansur is not placed in the Gwalior gharana: the decisive training in the official account comes from Manji Khan of the Jaipur-Atrauli line.
✗(a)Nothing in the official account links Mansur with the Agra gharana; his guru belonged to the Jaipur-Atrauli line.
Remember · Jaipur-Atrauli gharana (founder Alladiya Khan): Mallikarjun Mansur of Dharwad learnt from Alladiya Khan's son Manji Khan.
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
The first Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, a music training school, was set up in 1901 by Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (d) Lahore
Paluskar opened the first Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore in 1901 and went on to open many schools across India; after his death in 1931 his disciples formed the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal. NCERT names him, with V.N. Bhatkhande, as a reformer who set up music institutions.
✓(d)The Mandal's own account says Paluskar established the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore in 1901, the seed of the later organisation.
✗(b)The first school was in Lahore, not Gwalior; Paluskar opened further schools across India only afterwards.
✗(a)The first school was in Lahore, not Delhi; Paluskar opened further schools across India only afterwards.
Remember · V.D. Paluskar: Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Lahore, 1901; his disciples formed the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal in 1931. V.N. Bhatkhande: the other great reformer of Hindustani music (NCERT).
Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal: About ABGMVM ↗ · reference work“In 1901, he sowed the seeds of the ABGMVM by establishing the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore. … In 1931, following his demise, his dedicated disciples came together to form the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal (ABGMVM).”
Which one of the following was the latest inclusion in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO?
Answer & explanation▾
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 ·
With reference to Mian Tansen, which one of the following statements is not correct?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (a) Tansen was the title given to him by Emperor Akbar.
The musician born Ramtanu Pandey was already famous as Tansen, and a mature musician, when he reached Akbar's court; what Akbar gave him was an honorific title, the 'Mian' of 'Mian Tansen'. So statement (a) is the incorrect one; the other three describe his work accurately.
✓(a)This is the wrong statement. The child known as Ramtanu became famous as Tansen through his musical training, before he reached Akbar's court; what Akbar gave was an honorific title, the 'Mian' in 'Mian Tansen'.
✗(b)This statement is true: Tansen was a dhrupad composer, and NCERT notes that he continued to compose in praise of Krishna and Shiva, besides compositions showing a Sufi influence. NIOS also says his dhrupads ranged from praise of deities to technical terms of music.
✗(c)This statement is true: the National Institute of Open Schooling notes that Tansen wrote several dhrupads in praise of Ramchandra Vaghela, his patron at Bandhavgarh, and of the emperor Akbar.
✗(d)This statement is true: several ragas bearing the prefix 'Miyan' (Miyan ki Sarang, Miyan Malhar, Miyan ki Todi) are associated with him, and he is believed to have popularised Darbari Kanhada.
Remember · Ramtanu Pandey → 'Tansen' (known by that name before Akbar); Akbar made him one of his navratnas and honoured him with the title 'Mian'. Dhrupad composer; Miyan ki Todi, Miyan Malhar, Miyan ki Sarang; popularised Darbari Kanhada.
Tansen Samaroh (Directorate of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh): About Tansen ↗ · reference work“this child blessed with extraordinary talent was known as Ramtanu or Tanna in his childhood. Having flourished in music from Swami Haridas of Vrindavan, that child later became famous as Tansen. … Akbar gave him the title Music Maestro, an honorific, meaning learned man.”
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.
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 ·
With reference to cultural history of India, consider the following statements:
1.Most of the Tyagaraja Kritis are devotional songs in praise of Lord Krishna.
2.Tyagaraja created several new ragas.
3.Annamacharya and Tyagaraja are contemporaries.
4.Annamacharya kirtanas are devotional songs in praise of Lord Venkateshwara.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (b) 2 and 4 only
Tyagaraja created new ragas, and Annamacharya's kirtanas praise Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, so 2 and 4 are correct. The two composers are separated by about three centuries.
✗1.UPSC's official key treats this statement as incorrect; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✓2.The Ministry of Culture's CCRT notes that later composers like Tyagaraja invented many beautiful ragas, following the scheme of 72 melakartas.
✗3.Annamacharya belongs to the Tallapaka composers of the 15th century. Tyagaraja was one of the Musical Trinity born between 1750 and 1850, so they lived centuries apart.
✓4.Annamacharya of Tallapaka composed over thirty-two thousand devotional sankeerthanas on Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, his family deity.
Remember · Tyagaraja: Trinity of Carnatic music, new ragas. Annamacharya (15th century, Tallapaka): sankeerthanas on Venkateswara of Tirumala.
With reference to Manipuri Sankirtana, consider the following statements:
1.It is a song and dance performance.
2.Cymbals are the only musical instruments used in the performance.
3.It is performed to narrate the life and deeds of Lord Krishna.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation▾
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 ·