Music, dance & theatre

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 · Report an error

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.

📘 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)

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 · Report an error

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 · Report an error