Insights Static Quiz -232, 2019–Art and Culture

Solution: c)

The excavation sites at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have yielded puppets with sockets attached to them, which suggest the presence of puppetry as an art form. However, the oldest written reference to puppetry is found in the Tamil classic Silappadikaram, written around 1^st and 2nd century B.C.

Kathputli is a String puppet and Yampuri is a rod puppet.

Solution: d)

Togalu Gombeyatta – shadow theatre of Karnataka. A unique feature of the Togalu Gombayetta puppets is the variation of puppet size based on social status, i.e. kings and religious figures are characterised by large puppets while common people and servants are shown by smaller puppets.

Ravanchhaya – shadow puppetry of Odisha region. The puppets are made of deer skin and depict bold, dramatic postures. They do not have any joints attached to them, making it a more complex art.

Yampuri – It is the traditional rod puppet of Bihar. The puppets are generally made of wood and are without any joints.

Kathputli – traditional string puppets of the Rajasthan. A unique feature of the puppets is the absence of legs. The strings are attached to the finger of the puppeteer.

Solution: b)

It is the traditional one-act play of Assam. It was started by the famous Vaishnava Saint Shankaradeva in the 16th century A.D. It depicts incidents from the life of Krishna. One of the unique features of this form of theatre is the use of masks to depict special expressions.

Solution: a)

• Todi should be performed in the late morning.
• Raga Bhopali should be sung after sunset.
• Bhimpalasi should be sung in late Afternoon.
• Raga Darbari is played deep into the night, considered to be one of the more difficult to master. Raga Darbari is a raga in the Kanada family, which is thought to have originated in Carnatic music and brought into North Indian music by Miyan Tansen, the 16th-century composer in Emperor Akbar’s court.

Solution: b)

• Madhubani which means ‘forest of honey’, is a style of folk painting old enough to find mention in some of the ancient Indian texts like Ramayana. It is also known as Mithila, for its origin in the Mithila region in Bihar.
• Instead of contemporary brushes, objects like twigs, matchsticks and even fingers are used to create the paintings.
• Since the paintings have been confined to a limited geographical range, the themes as well as the style are more or less, the same.
• Madhubani is now found on apparel, paper, canvas, and other products, which boast of designs inspired by Hindu deities such as Krishna, Rama, Lakshmi, Shiva, Durga, Saraswati, all of whom have been painted in Madhubani since ancient times.