Indian Art, Culture, Literature and Heritage

Indian Art And Culture

355 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 355 questions

  1. Complete the sentence about Sanskrit with the correct year: The oldest Sanskrit college is the Benares Sanskrit College founded in ______ during East India Company rule.
  2. Complete the sentence about Tamil language with the correct year: Tamil was the first to be recognized as a classical language of India by the Central Government in ______.
  3. Complete the sentence about Bengali language with the correct year: In ______, UNESCO recognised 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the language movement.
  4. Complete the sentence about Urdu with the correct year: In ______, a complete literary Diwan in Rekhta was written by Nawab Sadruddin Khan.
  5. Complete the sentence about Telugu language with the correct year: Andronov, Telugu split from the Proto-Dravidian language around ______ BCE.
  6. Complete the sentence about Marathi language with the correct year: A 2-line ______ CE Prakrit inscription at Shravanabelagola records a grant by the Hoysalas.
  7. Complete the sentence about Kannada with the correct year: Kannada had 43.7 million native speakers in India at the time of the ______ census.
  8. Complete the sentence about Malayalam with the correct year: The first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in ______.
  9. Complete the sentence about Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India with the correct year: In ______, the 21st amendment to the constitution added Sindhi to the Eighth Schedule.
  10. Complete the sentence about Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India with the correct year: The 71st Amendment, enacted in ______, added three more languages: Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali.
  11. Complete the sentence about Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India with the correct year: In ______, the 92nd Amendment added Bodo, Dogri, Santali and Maithili, raising the total number of langu…
  12. Complete the sentence about Christianity in India with the correct year: Christianity is India's third-largest religion with 28 million adherents, who make up 2.3 percent of the population, according…
  13. Complete the sentence about Zoroastrianism in India with the correct year: Historians are forced to rely exclusively on Qissa-i Sanjan written in ______ by a Parsi Priest and Qissah-ye Zartushtian-e H…
  14. Complete the sentence about Zoroastrianism in India with the correct year: The immigration of Zoroastrians to India continued, and by ______ they had lost all contact with Persia.
  15. Complete the sentence about Diwali with the correct year: A few, notably the Mughal emperor Akbar, welcomed and participated in the festivities, whereas others banned such festivals as Diwali and Holi…
  16. Complete the sentence about Onam with the correct year: In ______, during the tenure of Chief Minister Pattom Thanu Pillai, Onam was officially declared the national festival of Keralam.
  17. Complete the sentence about Kumbh Mela with the correct year: Before ______, the name "Kumbh" was applied only to the 12th occurrence of an annual mela in Haridwar during the Vaishakha month.
  18. Complete the sentence about Kumbh Mela with the correct year: The Haridwar mela had seen clashes between rival groups in the past including one in ______ which resulted in multiple deaths.
  19. Complete the sentence about Kumbh Mela with the correct year: The first Kumbh Mela event was organised in ______, under British supervision.
  20. Complete the sentence about Yoga with the correct year: In ______, Yogananda started a Kriya Yoga centre in Los Angeles, becoming one of the first yoga teachers in the United States.
  21. Complete the sentence about Bharatanatyam with the correct year: Sadiraattam, which was renamed Bharatanatyam in ______, is the oldest classical dance tradition in India.
  22. Complete the sentence about Kathakali with the correct year: In ______, a performance expressing Christian doctrine was staged for the first time in Kerala.
  23. Complete the sentence about Kathakali with the correct year: The roots of Kathakali, states Mahinder Singh, are more ancient and some ______ years old.
  24. Complete the sentence about Odissi with the correct year: Odissi was the only Indian dance form present in Michael Jackson's ______ hit single "Black or White".
  25. Complete the sentence about Odissi with the correct year: Archeologists have reported the discovery of 20-key, carefully shaped polished basalt lithophone in Sankarjang, the highlands of Odisha, which…
  26. Complete the sentence about Manipuri dance with the correct year: In ______, devotional dance drama centered around Hindu god Rama expanded Manipuri dance tradition.
  27. Complete the sentence about Manipuri dance with the correct year: In ______, the British colonial government annexed Manipur into its Empire, marking an end to its golden era of creative systematizati…
  28. Complete the sentence about Sattriya with the correct year: On November 15 of the year ______, the Sangeet Natak Akademi of India recognised Sattriya as one of the eight classical dances of India.
  29. Complete the sentence about Sattriya with the correct year: The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognized Sattriya Nritya as an official classical dance of India in ______.
  30. Complete the sentence about Hindustani classical music with the correct year: Around ______, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande consolidated the musical structures of Hindustani classical music, called ragas…
  31. Complete the sentence about Hindustani classical music with the correct year: Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in ______ founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, a school to impart formal training in Hindustani c…
  32. Complete the sentence about Ravi Shankar with the correct year: In ______, Shankar began to tour Europe and America, playing Indian classical music.
  33. Complete the sentence about Lata Mangeshkar with the correct year: In ______, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed on her by the Government of India.
  34. Complete the sentence about Lata Mangeshkar with the correct year: In ______, she became the first Indian playback singer to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.
  35. Complete the sentence about Kishore Kumar with the correct year: In ______, the Madhya Pradesh Government initiated an award called the "Kishore Kumar Award" for contributions to Hindi cinema.
  36. Complete the sentence about Mohammed Rafi with the correct year: In ______, the Government of India honored him with the fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.
  37. Complete the sentence about Mohammed Rafi with the correct year: In ______, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine.
  38. Complete the sentence about Mohammed Rafi with the correct year: Rafi's father moved to Lahore in ______, where he ran a barbershop in Noor Mohalla in Bhati Gate.
  39. Complete the sentence about A. R. Rahman with the correct year: In ______, he was honoured by Stanford University for his contributions to global music.
  40. Complete the sentence about Asha Bhosle with the correct year: The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged her in ______ as the most recorded artist in music history.
  41. Complete the sentence about M. S. Subbulakshmi with the correct year: Subbulakshmi gave her first performance at the prestigious Madras Music Academy in ______, when she was 13 years old.
  42. Complete the sentence about M. S. Subbulakshmi with the correct year: On 21 June, ______, Subbulakshmi recorded her iconic rendition of Venkateswara Suprabhatam at the Gramaphone Company of India.
  43. Complete the sentence about Bismillah Khan with the correct year: Khan turned down invitations to perform in other countries before ______, when the Indian government insisted that he play at the Edin…
  44. Complete the sentence about Bollywood with the correct year: In ______, Hindi cinema represented 33% of box office revenue, followed by Telugu and Tamil representing 20% and 16% respectively.
  45. Complete the sentence about Bollywood with the correct year: In ______, a film presentation by Professor Stevenson featured a stage show at Calcutta's Star Theatre.
  46. Complete the sentence about Indian cinema with the correct year: Since talkies began in ______, Hindi cinema has led in terms of box office performance, but in recent years it has faced stiff competit…
  47. Complete the sentence about Indian cinema with the correct year: In ______, the British government, to promote the market in India for British films over American ones, formed the Indian Cinematograph…
  48. Complete the sentence about Indian cinema with the correct year: The first film studio in South India, Durga Cinetone, was built in ______ by Nidamarthi Surayya in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh.
  49. Complete the sentence about Satyajit Ray with the correct year: In ______, he was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University.
  50. Complete the sentence about Satyajit Ray with the correct year: The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award, in ______.
  51. Complete the sentence about Satyajit Ray with the correct year: Satyajit Ray's grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was born in Masua village, Kishorganj, in ______.
  52. Complete the sentence about Raj Kapoor with the correct year: The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in ______ for his contributions to the arts.
  53. Complete the sentence about Raj Kapoor with the correct year: India's highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, was bestowed to him in ______ by the Government of India.
  54. Complete the sentence about Amitabh Bachchan with the correct year: Bachchan was voted the "greatest star of stage or screen" in the BBC Your Millennium online users poll in ______.
  55. Complete the sentence about Amitabh Bachchan with the correct year: In October ______, Time magazine said he is the undisputed godfather of Bollywood.
  56. Complete the sentence about Amitabh Bachchan with the correct year: After taking a break from acting in the 1990s, Bachchan's resurgence was marked in ______ with Mohabbatein.
  57. Complete the sentence about Shah Rukh Khan with the correct year: Khan began his career with appearances in several television series in the late 1980s and made his Hindi film debut in ______ with the…
  58. Complete the sentence about Shah Rukh Khan with the correct year: In ______, Mir moved to Delhi to study law at Delhi University.
  59. Complete the sentence about Aamir Khan with the correct year: Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan was born on 14 March ______ in Bombay to Tahir Hussain, a film producer, and Zeenat Hussain from Varanasi.
  60. Complete the sentence about Salman Khan with the correct year: On 7 April ______, he was out on bail while an appeal was ongoing.
  61. Complete the sentence about Salman Khan with the correct year: Born to a Muslim father and Hindu mother on 27 December ______, Salman Khan was brought up in both faiths.
  62. Complete the sentence about Salman Khan with the correct year: Salman Khan made his on-screen debut in ______ with a supporting role in the successful film Biwi Ho To Aisi, which had Rekha in the lead…
  63. Complete the sentence about Lagaan with the correct year: Lagaan was theatrically released in India on 15 June ______, clashing with Gadar: Ek Prem Katha.
  64. Complete the sentence about Lagaan with the correct year: In ______, the farmers of the village of Champaner, located within the British Central India Agency, endure an oppressive colonial administrat…
  65. Complete the sentence about Sholay with the correct year: Filming took place in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, in the southern state of Karnataka, over two and a half years, beginning in October ___…
  66. Complete the sentence about Sholay with the correct year: In ______, the judges of the 50th Filmfare Awards named it the Best Film of 50 Years.
  67. Complete the sentence about Sholay with the correct year: The screenwriter pair Salim–Javed, consisting of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, began narrating the idea for Sholay as a four-line snippet to fi…
  68. Complete the sentence about Mother India with the correct year: Mother India is a ______ Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar…
  69. Complete the sentence about Mother India with the correct year: The title of the film was chosen to counter American author Katherine Mayo's ______ polemical book Mother India, which vilified Indian c…
  70. Complete the sentence about Pather Panchali with the correct year: Ray completed the first draft of the notes during his sea voyage to and from London in ______.
  71. Complete the sentence about Pather Panchali with the correct year: Boral, a village near Calcutta, was selected in early ______ as the main location for principal photography, and night scenes were sh…
  72. Complete the sentence about Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge with the correct year: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released on 20 October ______, and received widespread acclaim from critics.
  73. Complete the sentence about Rajinikanth with the correct year: Balachander's ______ Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, Rajinikanth's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic c…
  74. Complete the sentence about Rajinikanth with the correct year: In ______, Mani Ratnam's Tamil crime film Thalapathi, earned Rajinikanth major critical acclaim for his performance.
  75. Complete the sentence about Rajinikanth with the correct year: After his father's retirement from work in ______, the family moved to the suburb of Hanumantha Nagar in Bangalore and built a house ther…
  76. Complete the sentence about Kamal Haasan with the correct year: Kamal Haasan was born on 7 November ______ in Paramakudi into a Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family, to D.
  77. Complete the sentence about Kamal Haasan with the correct year: In ______ Haasan starred in his first Kannada film, Kokila, the directorial debut of friend and mentor Balu Mahendra.
  78. Complete the sentence about Baahubali: The Beginning with the correct year: Baahubali: The Beginning is a ______ Indian epic action film co-written and directed by S.
  79. Complete the sentence about Filmfare Awards with the correct year: Filmfare Awards were introduced by Filmfare of The Times Group in ______, the same year as the National Film Awards.
  80. Complete the sentence about Dadasaheb Phalke Award with the correct year: Presented first in ______, the award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke's contribution…
  81. Complete the sentence about Gitanjali with the correct year: The original Bengali collection was published on 4 August ______.
  82. Complete the sentence about Gitanjali with the correct year: The translated version, Gitanjali: Song Offerings, was published in November ______ by the India Society of London.
  83. Complete the sentence about Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay with the correct year: The ruins of a fort at Gar Mandaran provided the setting for Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Durgeshnandini, publis…
  84. Complete the sentence about Salman Rushdie with the correct year: Rushdie was educated at King's College at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with a degree in history in ______.
  85. Complete the sentence about Salman Rushdie with the correct year: In ______, Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
  86. Complete the sentence about Arundhati Roy with the correct year: Roy won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in ______ for In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones.
  87. Complete the sentence about Amartya Sen with the correct year: Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since ______.
  88. Complete the sentence about Amartya Sen with the correct year: In ______, he received India's highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to welfare economics.
  89. Complete the sentence about Amartya Sen with the correct year: Amartya Sen was born on 3 November ______ in a Bengali Baidya family in Santiniketan, Bengal, British India.
  90. Complete the sentence about Amartya Sen with the correct year: Sen began his school education at St Gregory's School in Dhaka in ______.
  91. Complete the sentence about Amartya Sen with the correct year: In the fall of ______, he was admitted to Patha Bhavana, Santiniketan, where he completed his school education.
  92. Complete the sentence about Tulsidas with the correct year: In the 1950s a fifth ancient account was published based on an old manuscript, the Gautam Chandrika composed by Krishnadatta Misra of Varana…
  93. Complete the sentence about Mirabai with the correct year: Mirabai had an arranged marriage with Bhoj Raj, the crown prince of Mewar, in ______.
  94. Complete the sentence about Mirabai with the correct year: Scholars doubt this happened, as Tansen joined Akbar's court in ______, 15 years after Mirabai's death.
  95. Complete the sentence with the correct year: In ______, at the age of 15, he married Chellamma, who was then seven years old.
  96. Complete the sentence about Subramania Bharati with the correct year: Bharati returned to Ettayapuram during ______ and served as the chief court poet of the Raja of Ettayapuram.
  97. Complete the sentence about Subramania Bharati with the correct year: In December ______, he attended a session of Indian National Congress in Varanasi.
  98. Complete the sentence about Mahasweta Devi with the correct year: In ______, president Shankar Dayal Sharma commuted two death sentences after Devi led a petition campaign.
  99. Complete the sentence about Mahasweta Devi with the correct year: On 27 February ______, she married renowned playwright Bijon Bhattacharya, who was one of the founding fathers of the Indian People's…
  100. Complete the sentence about Mahasweta Devi with the correct year: In ______, she gave birth to Nabarun Bhattacharya, who became a novelist and political critic.

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