Answers of DPPH- 13 February

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Objective Problems:

1. Which of the following statements regarding Jaina painting is incorrect:

(a) Gujarat miniatures of Jaina painting are in palm leaf manuscipts

(b) The Kalpasutra was illustrated with Jaina paintings.

(c) Jaina painting influenced the Rajasthani schools of painting.

(d) Jaina painting developed mainly in South India

Ans: d

2. Match the following:

       List I          List II

A.  Advaita         i. Ramanuja

B. Visishtadvaita ii. Madhvacharya

C. Dvaita             iii. Nimbarka

D.  Dvaitadvaita iv. Adi Shankara

A  B  C  D

(a) iv  i  ii  iii

(b) iv  i  iii  ii

(c) iv  iii  ii  i

(d) iii  ii  i  iv

Ans: a

3. Consider the following statements regarding Rajatarangini:

i. It was written by Kalhana

ii. It was a historiography of Kashmir

iii. It uses  inscriptions recording construction of temples and other architectures and several kinds of grant plates given by ancient kings as a reference.

iv. It was written in Kashmiri language

Which of the above are correct statements:

(a) All

(b) i, ii and iii

(c) i, ii and iv

(d) ii, iii and iv

Ans: b

4. Which of the following statement regarding Tantrism is correct:

(a) Tantrism did not include women in the rituals

(b) Tantrism did not influence Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism

(c) Tantrism is often associated with panchatattva– madira, mamsa, matsya, mudra, and maithuna.

(d) Tantrism was in sync with patriarchy

Ans: c

5. Consider the following statements:

(i) Caurapancasika was a fifty stanza love poem written by Bilhana

(ii) Caurapancasika was a style of painting.

Correct statements are:

(a) Only i

(b) Only ii

(c) Both i and ii

(d) None

Ans: c

6. Match the following:

List I (Woman Bhakti Saint)  List II (Place)

(A) Lal Ded                                   i. Maharashtra

(B) Bahinabai                              ii. Karnataka

(C) Akka Mahadevi                     iii. Kashmir

(D) Meerabai                               iv. Rajasthan

A  B  C  D

(a) ii  iii  iv  i

(b) i  ii  iii  iv

(c) iii  i  ii  iv

(d) ii  iii  iv  i

Ans: c

7. Consider the following statements regarding Gita Govinda:

i. It was written by Namdeva

ii. It was was written in Prakrit language

iii. It sings of Lord Krishna, Radha and the Gopis

iv. Its theme inspired many classical dances

Correct statements are:

(a) All except i

(b) All except i and ii

(c) All except i, ii and iii

(d) All except i, ii and iv

Ans:  b

Exp: Written by Jayadeva in Sannskrit.

8. Match the following:

List I                                         List II

A.  Kailash Temple of Ellora    i. Solanki

B. Modhera  Sun Temple          ii. Chandelas

C. Mahadeva Temple               iii. Rashtrakutas

D. Jagannath Temple               iv.Eastern Gangas

A  B  C   D

(a) iii  i  ii  iv

(b) i  ii  iii  iv

(c) ii  i  iv  iii

(d) iv ii  iii  i

Ans: a

9. Which of the following statements regarding temple architecture are correct:

(i) Star shape design is special characteristics of Hoyasala architecture

(ii) Panchayatana style means a temple with a main shrine, surrounded by four subsidiary shrines.

(iii) Khajuraho temple follows Panchyatana style

(iv) Vesara is a type of temple architecture of Deccan

Correct statements are:

(a) All

(b) All except i

(c) All except iii

(d) All except iv

Ans: a

10. Consider the following statements:

i. Alvars were Shaiva Saints of South India

ii. Nayanar were Vishnu Saints of South India

iii. Andal was the Alvar female saint poet

iv. Prabandha was composed by Alvars

Correct statements are:

(a) All

(b) i, iii and iv

(c) iii and iv

(d) i, ii and iii

Ans: c

Exp: Alvar: Vishnu.

Nayanar: Shiva

Mains Questions (For GS Mains and History Optional):

Q.1 Discuss the contribution of Rashtrakutas to art and culture.

Ans: Click here for answer

 Q.2 Evaluate the impact of the Sufi and Bhakti Movements on vernacular languages.

Ans:

(Note: Skip some points or languages to adhere to words limit)

The bhakti and Sufi saints challenged the sanctity of ancient Indian scriptures and Sanskrit language, which had become unintelligible to the masses. They preached through vernaculars and in the local dialects of the people, which could be easily understood by them. In this way, the bhakti and Sufi movements greatly contributed to the development of vernacular languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Maithili, Marathi, Gujarati, Rajasthani etc. The theme of bhakti and Sufi enriched the literature in these languages.

South India: Tamil, Telugu and Kannada

1. Tamil: Bhakti movement has originated in South India. Alvar and Nayanar were Vaishnavite and Shaivite saints respectively and they composed several Tamil texts to spread their ideas. The religious works Alvar saints in Tamil are compiled as Divya Prabandham.
2. Telugu: Tamil bhakti also had a profound impact of the development of Telugu. Earliest major work to survive is the Telugu Mahabharata produced by three successive poets, Nannaya, Tikkana and Erra Pragada. Vaishnavism influenced the next stage of the development of Telugu literature in the reign of Vijayanagara king Krishna Deva Raya.
3. Kannada: Kannada was also impacted by the Bhakti movement in Shavism and Vaishnavism. Bassava was a 12^th century Kannada poet in the Shaivite bhakti Lingayat movement.

Eastern India: Bengali, Oriya, Assamese and Maithili

1. Bengali: In the east, Chaitanya and the poet Chandidasa, to spread their ideas of Vaishnavism, used Bengali. A new genre of Vaishnava biographies in Bengali came into being like Brindabandas’s Chaitanya Bhagvata and Krishnadas Kaviraj’s Chaitanya-Charitamitra. Later Mirza Hussein Ali composed songs in Bengali in honor of Goddess Kali.
2. Oriya: The Bhakti movement of Chaitanya and of the Vaishnava poets made a lasting influence on Oriya literature.
   
3. Assamese: The fifteenth century the Vaishnava bhakti leader, Shankaradev, popularized the use of Assamese in the valley of the Brahmaputra. He wrote short plays and poetry in Assamese to spread his ideas. He was followed by Madhavadas who wrote famous work Bhakti-Ratnavali in Assamese which dealt with various aspects of Bhakti.
4. Maithili: The development of Maithili language in modern Bihar was associated with Vaishnava bhakti culture. Vidyapati is most prominent poet and writer in Maithili who wrote story and poetry devoted to Radha-Krishna and Shiva.

Western India: Rajasthani, Gujarati

1. Rajasthani: The bhakti saint like Mirabai composed her songs in Rajasthani.
2. Gujarati: Narasimha Mehta was an eminent bhakti saint from Gujarat in 15th century who composed his devotional lyrics in Gujarati. The age of these Bhakti poets is considered as the golden age of Gujarati literature.

Punjabi

Baba Farid, a mystic Sufi poet was the pioneer of the new school of poetry in Punjabi. Guru Nanak contributed to the development of Punjabi through his poetry in 15^th century. Later Sikh Gurus contributed to the enrichment of Punjabi language. Guru Arjun Dev compiled the Adi Granth in 1604. It contains works of some great saints of medieval India like Kabir, Farid, Namdev, Surdas, Mirabai and Ravidas.

Arjun Dev also wrote the Sukhmani Sahib, one of the longest and greatest of the medieval mystic poems. Guru Gobind Singh’s writings are included in the Dasam Granth.

Marathi

A major contribution in Marathi literature, which emerged in 13^th century, was made by the saint-poets of the Natha cult founded by Gorakhanatha.

Other important contributors were Jnanadeva (wrote Jnanesvari), Eknatha, Tukaram (wrote Abhangas) and Ramdas.

Marathi literature received its high level due to the writings of Ekanth and Tukaram. Eknath compiled his great commentary on the Bhagwadgita in 1563. Tukaram’s devotional lyrics in Marathi have become popular among the masses.

Hindi

Adi Kala, the first stage of Hindi literature was the richest period in the history of Hindi literature; major literary contributions were made by bhakti and Sufi poets. Bhakti poets were Kabir, Guru Nanak, Dadu, Sundaradasa, Tulsidasa (wrote Ramcharitamanas), Surdas (wrote Sur-Sagar), Mirabai etc.

The mystic poet Dadu Dayal composed devotional songs in brajbhasha in 16th century.

Malik Muhammad Jaisi (wrote Padmavati), Nur Muhammad (wrote Indravati), Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (wrote several dohas like Rahim Dohavali) contributed greatly to the development of Hindi.

Ras Khan wrote beautiful poem Prem Batika on Lord Krishna and his life in Vrindavan.

Urdu

The Sufi saints wrote poetry in Urdu which greatly helped in the development of Urdu literature. The Sufi elements is quite strong is Urdu. The gazal appears to suit the Sufi mode of thought. As in the songs or padas relating to the Krishna cult, the mystical and the erotic merge in the ghazals too.

Miranji Sham al-Ushshaq established Urdu as a recognized medium of Sufi narrative verse. Sufi saints freely transplanted Persian and Arabic religious vocabulary and form of though and experience into Urdu.

 

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