Prelims · Art & culture · 9 questions

Music, dance & theatre

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Prelims 2018 · Q22

Medium

Consider the following pairs:

	Tradition	State
1.	Chapchar Kut festival	Mizoram
2.	Khongjom Parba ballad	Manipur
3.	Thang-Ta dance	Sikkim

Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

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.

Sources

Chapchar Kut, Aizawl District, Government of Mizoram (aizawl.nic.in) ↗ “The Chapchar Kut is a festival of Mizoram, India. It is celebrated during March after completion of their most arduous task of jhum operation i.e., jungle-clearing (clearing of the remnants of burning).”
Culture and Heritage, Imphal East District, Government of Manipur (imphaleast.nic.in) ↗ “It is a musical narration of the Battle of Khongjom fought between the Manipuris and the British in April 1891.”
Thang-Ta: Martial Art of Manipur, IGNCA (Ministry of Culture) ↗ “Manipuri martial art is called Thang-Ta (sword and spear). It is dedicated to fighting skill and worship. The Meitei creation of Thang-Ta goes back to antiquity.”

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 ·

Prelims 2018 · Q44

Medium

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.

Sources

CCRT, Ministry of Culture: Carnatic Classical Music (Internet Archive copy) ↗ “later composers like Tyagaraja invented many a beautiful raga by following it. … The Talapakam composers of the 15th century were the first to compose kirtanas with the sections, pallavi, anupallavi and charanas.”
District YSR (Kadapa), Government of Andhra Pradesh: Tallapaka ↗ “On Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, his FAMILY DEITY he composed more than Thirty two thousand devotional hymns – Sankeerthanas.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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Music, dance & theatre

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