UPSC Prelims 2024 · GS Paper I: Consider the following properties included in the World Heritage List released by UNESCO :1.…
Consider the following properties included in the World Heritage List released by UNESCO :
- 1. Shantiniketan
- 2. Rani-ki-Vav
- 3. Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas
- 4. Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya
How many of the above properties were included in 2023 ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only two were included in 2023 (b). The Riyadh session of the World Heritage Committee in September 2023 added Santiniketan, Tagore's university town in West Bengal, and the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas (Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura) in Karnataka. That made India's count 42. Item 2 is wrong: Rani-ki-Vav, the stepwell at Patan, Gujarat, was listed in 2014. Item 4 is wrong: the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya was listed in 2002.
Notice the later additions: Assam's Moidams of the Ahom kings (2024) and the Maratha Military Landscapes, a group of twelve forts (2025), took India to 44. Do not confuse this list of places with the Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Related questions from other years
The Hallisalasya painting in the Bagh Caves represents :
Answer (a) & explanation
The Hallisalasya painting shows a joyous folk dance (a). The Bagh caves in Madhya Pradesh have murals close in style to Ajanta. The best-known panel shows hallisaka: women dancing in a ring around a male dancer while others play music. Hallisaka is an old folk dance named in Sanskrit texts, and lasya means graceful dance. Option (b) is wrong: it is not the Buddha meditating. Option (c) is wrong: Shiva and Parvati on Kailasha is a theme at Ellora. Option (d) is wrong: it is not Samudramanthan.
Notice Bagh's features: Buddhist caves of the 5th–6th centuries, cut in soft sandstone, near the Bagh river. Many paintings were damaged; some are now kept in the Gwalior museum. The town is also known for Bagh print textiles.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following Carnatic music ragas is similar to Raga Bilawal in Hindustani music ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Dheera Shankarabharanam matches Raga Bilawal (d). Bilawal is the Hindustani thaat with all seven notes natural (shuddha), the same scale as the Western major scale. Its Carnatic twin is Dheera Shankarabharanam, the 29th melakarta. Option (a) is wrong: Nat Bhairavi matches Asavari. Option (b) is wrong: Kamavardhini (Pantuvarali) matches Purvi. Option (c) is wrong: Hanumatodi matches the Hindustani Bhairavi.
Notice the two systems: Hindustani music has ten thaats, classified by V.N. Bhatkhande, while Carnatic music has 72 melakartas, organised by Venkatamakhin. Another easy pair: Kalyan (Yaman) matches Mechakalyani (Kalyani). Trick: match the notes, not the names, since some names, like Bhairavi, mean different scales in the two systems.
Hanumatodi sounds like Todi, but the Carnatic Todi scale is the Hindustani Bhairavi thaat, not Bilawal.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following temples has/have a Nagara-style shikhara ?
- 1. Malegitti Shivalaya, Badami
- 2. Huchimalligudi Temple, Aihole
- 3. Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh
- 4. Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal
Select the answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Huchimalligudi and Deogarh have Nagara-style shikharas (b). Item 3 is right: the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh (Gupta period) had an early northern-style shikhara. Item 2 is right: at Aihole, the Huchimalligudi temple carries a curved Nagara (rekha) tower over its sanctum. Items 1 and 4 are wrong: Malegitti Shivalaya at Badami and the Virupaksha temple at Pattadakal are Dravida temples with stepped vimanas. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice why the Chalukya sites matter: Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal were a laboratory where both styles stood side by side. Pattadakal, a UNESCO site, has Nagara temples like Papanatha next to Dravida ones. Vesara later blended the two.
The Chalukyan sites have both styles side by side. Do not mark a temple Dravida only because it stands in Karnataka.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements on the Amaravati Stupa and its relief sculpture is/are correct ?
- 1. It was located in the lower Krishna valley.
- 2. In India, it was next only to the Sanchi Stupa in size.
- 3. The Amaravati school of sculpture made a lasting impact on the later South Indian sculpture, and its products were carried to Sri Lanka and South-east Asia.
Select the answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 1 is right: Amaravati stands on the lower Krishna valley in Andhra Pradesh. Statement 3 is right: its fine limestone reliefs shaped later South Indian art, and pieces in its style reached Sri Lanka and South-east Asia. Statement 2 is wrong: Amaravati was one of the largest stupas in India, bigger than the Great Stupa at Sanchi, not second to it. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the patrons: the Satavahanas and later the Ikshvakus, who built Nagarjunakonda. Many Amaravati panels were taken to the British Museum and Chennai museum. Andhra Pradesh's new capital is named Amaravati after it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
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