Art & Culture: syllabus hub.
Syllabus: UPSC Mains GS1: Indian culture - art forms, literature, architecture
GI tags for UPSC: Geographical Indications Act 1999, TRIPS link, registration at Chennai, 10-year validity, famous GI products, UP's ODOP and key…
Temple architecture for UPSC: garbhagriha to shikhara, Nagara sub-styles, Dravida vimana and gopuram, Vesara of the Chalukyas and Hoysalas, examples and PYQs.
Vijayanagara Empire for UPSC: four dynasties, Krishnadevaraya, nayankara and ayagar systems, foreign travellers, Hampi architecture, Talikota and real PYQs.
Bhakti movement for UPSC: southern origins, Alvars and Nayanars, Ramanuja to Kabir, nirguna vs saguna, regional saints, Sufi links, impact and real…
Mauryan Empire for UPSC: Chandragupta, Bindusara and Ashoka, Arthashastra and Indica, administration, Ashokan edicts and Dhamma, Mauryan art, decline and PYQs.
Indian paintings for UPSC: Bhimbetka, Ajanta and Bagh murals, Mughal, Rajasthani and Pahari miniatures, state-wise folk paintings, modern art and real PYQs.
Attempt them here.
Which one of the following statements with regard to the Moidams, built by the Tai-Ahom kingdom and inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Only statement 3 is correct (c). The Moidams of Charaideo in Assam are earthen burial mounds of Ahom kings, queens and nobles, raised over vaulted chambers from the 13th to the 19th century. Statement 3 is right. Statements 1, 2 and 4 are wrong: they were never army forts, recreation centres or battle drill grounds. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice their status: in 2024 they became the North-East's first cultural World Heritage Site, and India's 43rd. They are often called the "pyramids of Assam". The Ahoms ruled Assam for about 600 years, and their general Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughals at Saraighat (1671). Charaideo was their first capital.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Hallisalasya painting in the Bagh Caves represents :
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 ?
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 ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
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 ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
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.
Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, the famous classical singer from Karnataka, represented the :
Mallikarjun Mansur represented the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana (d). Mallikarjun Mansur (1910–1992) from Dharwad was a khayal singer of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, founded by Alladiya Khan. He trained with Manji Khan and Bhurji Khan, Alladiya Khan's sons. Options (a), (b) and (c), Agra, Gwalior and Patiala, are wrong. He received the Padma Vibhushan.
Notice Dharwad's musical riches: it also gave Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal, both of the Kirana gharana, and Kumar Gandharva trained nearby. The Jaipur-Atrauli style is known for complex, rare ragas. Kesarbai Kerkar and Kishori Amonkar were other famous singers of this gharana.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The first Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, a music training school, was set up in 1901 by Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in
The first Gandharva Mahavidyalaya was set up in Lahore (d). Vishnu Digambar Paluskar started it in Lahore in 1901. It was among the first music schools open to the public, run on fees and public money rather than royal patronage. He later moved it to Bombay. Options (a), (b) and (c), Delhi, Gwalior and Ujjain, are wrong. Gwalior was famous for its own gharana of singing, a family tradition, not for this school.
Notice his partner in reviving Hindustani music: V.N. Bhatkhande, who classified ragas into ten thaats. Paluskar set Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram to its popular tune. His pupils included Omkarnath Thakur, and his son D.V. Paluskar.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 2 is right: the main Upanishads date from about 800–300 BCE, the end of the Vedic corpus, which is why they are called Vedanta. The Puranas took shape later, mostly in the Gupta period and after. Statement 1 is wrong: the Upanishads teach through stories and dialogues. Examples include Nachiketa and Yama (Katha), Satyakama Jabala (Chandogya), and the parable of the two birds on one tree (Mundaka). So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the core ideas: Brahman (the ultimate reality), Atman (the self), and their oneness, captured in "Tat tvam asi". India's motto Satyameva Jayate comes from the Mundaka Upanishad.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
On 15 October 2026 the Prime Minister inaugurated, by video conference, five projects worth about ₹3,350 crore in Ladakh: a new passenger terminal at Leh's Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, the 298-km Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road built by BRO, the 9 MW Hanu small hydro project with a 66 kV line, India's first Petroglyph Conservation Park at Sindhu Ghat, and 40 water bodies under Project Him Sarovar.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Shinkun La, Zanskar, Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road, BRO, petroglyphs, Him Sarovar. · Mains GS-III: border infrastructure and security; GS-I: heritage conservation.
15 Oct 2026
On 13 October 2026 HAL, the National Culture Fund and ASI signed an MoA for conservation and visitor works at Hampi, the Taj Mahal and Bekal Fort. HAL has approved about ₹23.60 crore in CSR support over three years; NCF facilitates the projects and ASI supervises them technically.
UPSC angle: Prelims: ASI, NCF, Hampi (UNESCO), Taj Mahal, Bekal Fort. · Mains GS-I: heritage conservation and corporate CSR.
14 Oct 2026
On 3 October 2026 the Ministry of Education approved five Centres of Excellence for Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit, hosted by Tezpur University, Visva-Bharati, Deccan College Pune, Central University of Odisha and Central University of Gujarat. These five got classical status in October 2024, taking India's total to 11 classical languages.
UPSC angle: Prelims: match language with CoE institution; list of classical languages.
3 Oct 2026
On 22 September 2026 President Droupadi Murmu presented the 72nd National Film Awards at Ekta Nagar, Kevadia, Gujarat, near the Statue of Unity. She conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024 on veteran actor Anant Nag for his contribution to Indian cinema. She asked that women be part of every regional jury.
UPSC angle: Prelims: recipient and year of Phalke Award.
22 Sep 2026
At the 77th Foundation Day of the Central Silk Board in Bengaluru on 20 September 2026, the Textiles Minister said India's silk output has grown from 26,000 metric tonnes in 2014 to 42,000 tonnes now. The target is 60,000 tonnes by 2030-31, and the No. 1 global rank by 2028-29. Karnataka leads India's silk production.
UPSC angle: Prelims: four varieties of silk; leading State.
20 Sep 2026
The Ministry of Culture promotes India's cultural relations through the Global Engagement Scheme, an umbrella scheme, the Culture Minister told Lok Sabha on 10 August 2026. It has four parts: the International Cultural Exchange Programme, Project Mausam, Brihattar Bharat and a scheme to safeguard intangible cultural heritage. India has Cultural Exchange Programmes with 98 countries.
UPSC angle: Prelims: ICCR.
10 Aug 2026