Art and Culture(Festivals, dance and others)

Sattriya originated in Sattra, monastery, as a part of neo-Vaishnavite
movement started by Srimanta Sankardev in the 15th Century. He propagated the “ek
sharan naama dharma” (chanting the name of one God devotedly).
•“Sattriya dances are devotional in nature as they were intended for propagation of
neo-Vaishnavism. Its highlights are intense emotional fervour, and in its solo avatar
now dramatic abhinaya is prominent in contrast to nritta, pure dance”.
•Dr. Sunil Kothari was recently bestowed the prestigious Madhabdev Award by
the Government of Assam for his work in making Sattriya popular in India and
abroad.
•Though long recognised as a traditional dance form, Sattriya was given the
status of a classical dance in the year 2000 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
•Highlighting on how it differs from other forms, Kothari says, “In its basic stance for
male and female known as Purush Pak and Prakriti Pak, Sattriya dances differ from
other dance forms.
•They have special mnemonic bols, typical Assamese music known as Borgeet,
musical instruments like large cymbals, drums, colourful costumes which stand out
from other dance styles, besides complicated choreographic patterns using various
talas for each stanza sung by the vocalist.
•Dance-dramas are distinct living tradition and use vachikabhinaya, dialogues.
Special masks are also used in dance-dramas.”

Statement 1 is correct. Thumbimahotsavam 2020 is a Dragonfly Festival being held in Kerala.
A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, infraorder Anisoptera. Dragonflies are a group of roughly 3,000 species of aerial predatory insects most commonly found near freshwater habitats throughout most of the world. Large bodies, massive eyes and four long wings are the common characteristics of Dragonflies.
Statement 2 is incorrect. This festival is part of a national dragonfly festival being organised by the WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society & Indian Dragonfly Society in association with the National Biodiversity Board, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme and IUCN – Centre for Environment Conservation.
‘Pantalu’ is the official mascot of the festival.

Nuakhai Juhar is an ancient festival celebrated in Odisha to welcome the new crop of the season. The festival is particularly important in the life and culture of Western Odisha.
Nuakhai Juhar is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat and is a greeting exchanged on the special day. Nuakhai is a combination of two words, ‘nua’ meaning new and ‘khai’ means eat, and it thus signifies “eating of new rice”. People worship food grain on this auspicious day.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Hyderabad is considered the main pearl trading center in India, because of which the city is also known as the “City of Pearls”.

Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Jaipur is called the Pink City. In 2019, UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed Jaipur the ‘Pink City of India’ among its World Heritage Sites.
Every building within the walled historic centre is painted a terracotta “pink” colour and there are few exceptions to this uniformly colour scheme. The historical reason for the uniform colour of central Jaipur lies with the absolute power of the Maharaja (Sawai Ram Singh) over his capital and his extreme strategy to impress Prince Albert during his 1876 tour of India.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Udaipur is known as the “City of Lakes”. The Lake Pichola, Udai Sagar Lake, Fateh Sagar Lake, Rajsamand Lake, and Jaisamand Lake are the five prominent lakes of Udaipur. One of the most famous lakes is Pushkar Lake, which is one of the major tourist attractions in Rajasthan.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Etikoppaka toys (Etikoppaka Bommalu) are traditional toys are made by artisans in Etikoppaka village located on banks of river Varaha in Visakhapatnam district of the Andhra Pradesh. This craft form is protected as a geographical indication (GI).
Option 2 is correctly matched. Kandhamal Haladi, a variety of turmeric indigenous to South Odisha and mostly cultivated in Kandhamal district. It is protected as a geographical indication (GI).
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys (and dolls) that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka. This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI).

All of the above fabric/handloom styles are correctly matched.
Tanchois are a very fine weave banarasi sarees that use an extra weft thread to create delicate patterns.
Kotpad Handloom is a vegetable-dyed fabric woven by the tribal weavers of the Mirgan community of Kotpad village in Koraput district, Odisha.
Pochampally ikat derives its name from the area in where it is woven – Pochampally in Telangana. The technique involves tying and dyeing of pattern in the yarn.

Avadhanaṃ is a literary performance popular from the very ancient days in India. Avadhānaṃ originated as a Sanskrit literary process and is revived by poets in Telugu and Kannada in modern times. It involves the partial improvisation of poems using specific themes, metres, forms, or words.
# The ‘International ‘Satavadhanam’’ program was launched virtually by the Vice President recently. It was organized by Dr. Medasani Mohan under the auspices of Sri Krishnadevaraya Satsang in Tirupati.

The Tarangmel folk dance of Goa that celebrates the youthfulness of the region. It is performed during Dussehra and Holi. The use of rainbow-like costumes with multi coloured flags and streamers make it a visual spectacle.

Vatteluttu script: It was a script derived from the Brahmi and was used in the Southern part of India.
• It was used to write Tamil and Malayalam.
• It removed those signs from Brahmi, which were not needed for writing the Southern languages.
• Presently, both Tamil and Malayalam have moved on to their own Grantha derived scripts.

Sarada script: It was a Western variant of the Gupta script. It evolved into Kashmiri and Gurmukhi (now used for writing Punjabi) scripts. It was also used for writing Sanskrit. It is now rarely used.
Modi script: Marathi language

Chariots were primarily used in south Indian temples; in some, new chariots have been replaced old ones.
• If the chariots become very old and fragile, or caught with fire or even damaged beyond repair, they are not be drawn during Rathotsava but abandoned outside the town in an open field.
• They are acquired by the museums and private collectors, who restore and place them in museums.
• Today, we can see a massive chariot beautifully positioned in the newly built Manjusha Museum at Dharmasthala (Karnataka), Calico Museum at Ahemadabad, Janapadaloka at Ramnagar (Karnataka), and Government Museum at Kanyakumari and at the National Museum in New Delhi.

It is amazing that the Muslims of India showed as much reverence for the Prince of Ayodhya as the Hindus.
• There are no less than 23 Ramayanas in Indo-Persian literature, translated from either Valmiki or Tulsidas.
• The Persian scholar Abul Fazl records how Emperor Akbar commissioned these translations to foster amity between the communities.

The first Ramayana in Persian was by Mulla Abdul Qadir Badayuni in 1584.
• It was embellished by 176 beautiful illustrations and is kept in the Jaipur museum

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was founded in 1984 in New Delhi with the vision to spearhead heritage awareness and conservation in India.
• Today INTACH is recognized as one of the world’s largest heritage organizations, with over 190 Chapters across the Country.
• In the past 31 years INTACH has pioneered the conservation and preservation of not just our natural and built heritage but intangible heritage as well.
• Headquartered in New Delhi, it operates through various divisions such as Architectural Heritage, Natural Heritage, Material Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Heritage Education and Communication Services (HECS), Crafts and Community Cell, Chapters, INTACH Heritage Academy, Heritage Tourism, Listing Cell and Library, Archives and Documentation Centre

Ochre Coloured Pottery Ware culture is found in northern India dating to the Chalcolithic period.
• The OCP culture dates to 2600- 1200 BCE and is found in the Indo-Gangetic plain and may have had some associations with early Vedic culture.
• The Iron Age in North India coincides with the painted Grey Ware culture.
• The painted grey ware is dated to from 1100 to 800 BCE.The pottery was fine grey in colour with painted geometric designs.
• The painted grey ware laid the foundation of the early political formations. It correlates with the Kuru-Panchala kingdom known from the Vedic texts.
• The Painted Grey Ware cultural phase is followed by Northern Black Polished Ware culture (NBPW), which is associated with the Mahajanapada and Mauryan periods.

Padayani dance is the traditional dance form and is linked up with many festivals and events of Kerala.
• This dance form is even performed in various districts of Kerala such as Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta.
• Also this dance is connected with folk art and even it is mainly associated with series of semi divine and divine impersonations in their dance.
• Padayani dance includes various distinctive steps and movements. The costumes uses in the dance are more of kolams which represent the situation of devil killing.
• Furthermore in this dance form the musical instruments used in it are known as Thappu and Chendas. Also the dancers in this Padayani dance form decorate themselves in most attractive way.
• They wear most colorful masks with unique images. This dance is worth watching and surprising as the performers make few movements with their eyes and ears.
• Even the accessories in this dance play a vital role as they create a real image in the battle field of dance.
• This dance requires lot of energy and boost as wearing heavy mask and then performing with it is not an easy task.
• In numerous temples of Kerala this dance is widely enjoyed and performed.

Chhau dance is a tradition from eastern India that enacts episodes from epics including the Mahabharata and Ramayana, local folklore and abstract themes.
• Its three distinct styles hail from the regions of Seraikella, Purulia and Mayurbhanj, the first two using masks.
• Chhau dance is intimately connected to regional festivals, notably the spring festival Chaitra Parva. Its origin is traceable to indigenous forms of dance and martial practices.
• Its vocabulary of movement includes mock combat techniques, stylized gaits of birds and animals and movements modelled on the chores of village housewives.
• Chhau is taught to male dancers from families of traditional artists or from local communities.
• The dance is performed at night in an open space to traditional and folk melodies, played on the reed pipes mohuri and shehnai.
• The reverberating drumbeats of a variety of drums dominate the accompanying music ensemble. Chhau is an integral part of the culture of these communities.
• It binds together people from different social strata and ethnic background with diverse social practices, beliefs, professions and languages.
• However, increasing industrialization, economic pressures and new media are leading to a decrease in collective participation with communities becoming disconnected from their roots.

Kathi Samu is an ancient and historical martial art which originated in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• Kathi basically means sword and Kathi Samu is a martial art which is fighting with swords.
• Kathi Samu is an ancient skill which was mastered by the royal armies of Andhra Pradesh.
• The Royal Kings practiced this skill as it was used in wars against their enemies and also it was considered to be a matter of pride to master Kathi Samu.
• The soldiers of the army were taught this martial art for the sole purpose of wars against enemies.
• According to research, Kathi Samu is said to be in existence for over 7000 years even before Aryan dynasty came into India.

Hand-woven and hand stitched sarees of West Bengal including
Baluchari sarees, Swarnachari sarees, Jamdani sarees, Kantha sarees, Linen sarees,
Tussar sarees, Murshidabadi Silk sarees. Bengal sarees are known for their intricate motif
pattern and artistry.

The Krishna’s Butterball is a massive 20 feet high and 5 meter wide rock
stands on a slippery slope of a hill on less than 4-feet base is located in Tamil Nadu.
•It is called as Krishna’s butterball because butter is his favourite food and it is a
myth that it falls from heaven.
•It is also known as ‘Vaanirai Kal’ in Tamil which means ‘Stone of the Sky God’.
•Recently in October 2019 it is visited by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The traditional string puppets of the Rajasthan area known as Kathputli,
which derives its name from kath meaning wood and putli meaning doll.
•The puppets are covered in traditionally bright Rajasthani dress. The show is
accompanied by a dramatic folk music.
•A unique feature of the puppets is the absence of legs. The strings are attached to
the finger of the puppeteer.

Sankirtana is the artistic manifestation of Manipuri worship. To the Manipuris Sankirtana is the visible form of God.
•Woven within the framework of sacrosanct rituals and ceremonies the art consists of narrative singing and dancing.
•Always performed in a Mandala (circular area) inside a Mandapa (hall) attached to a temple or erected in a courtyard.
•The rituals and formalities are strict and even the audience are seated according to set rules. It employs musical instruments like drums and cymbals.
•The artistes play these instruments and dance at the same time. An artiste spends a life-time specializing only in one aspect.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s

first Minister for Education, established many institutions such as the Sahitya Akademi,

the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Lalit Kala Akademi, and the Indian Council for Cultural

Relations, and also provided a major stimulus for the setting up of the Indian Institutes of

Technology.

Statement 2 is correct. The Objects of the Council as defined in the Memorandum of

Association are:

–To participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes relating

to India’s external cultural relations;

–To foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India

and other countries;

–To promote cultural exchange with other countries and peoples;

–To establish and develop relations with national and inter-national Organization in the

field of culture;

–To take such measures as may be required to further these objectives.

# The ICCR recently organised a global painting competition named ‘United Against CORONAExpress through Art’.

Sawantwadi toys handmade works of art made of wood in Sawantwadi a

town in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. The toys are made by assembling flat shaped

solid wood. Seasoned mango wood is chiseled or carved into desired toy shape. The cutout

pieces are finished on a sander, painted and assembled. The craft is traditionally done by

the Chitari or Chitrakar community

# India Post is releasing a set of Post Cards on Traditional Toys of India including one featuring Sawantwadi Toys.

Channapatna toys are wooden toys and dolls manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka state. This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI). They are handcrafted and hand painted, coloured with vegetable dyes

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was set

up in the year 1986 by a Ministry of Home Affairs Resolution with the objective to function

as a clearing house of information on crime and criminals.

Statement 2 is correct. The objectives of the NCRB include:

-To function as a clearing house of information on crime and criminals including those

operating at National and International levels so as to assists the investigators, and others

in linking crimes to their perpetrators.

-To store, coordinate and disseminate information on inter-state and international

criminals from and to respective States, national investigating agencies, courts and

prosecutors in India without having to refer to the Police Station records.

-To collect and process crime statistics at the National level.

-To coordinate, guide and assist the functioning of the State Crime Records Bureaux.

-To evaluate, develop and modernise Crime Records Bureaux.

# A comparative study recently released by NCRB of data on Accidental Deaths and Suicides

shows that suicides in the agriculture sector have declined by 10% — from 11,379 in 2016 to 10,281 in 2019.

Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle 1857-1947 is a project of

Indian Council of Historical Research and Ministry of Culture, Govt of India. It contains

brief biographical notes based to the extent possible on authentic archival and other

contemporary documents.

A martyr is a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention or was awarded

capital punishment while participating in a national movement for emancipation of India. It includes an ex-INA or ex-military person who died fighting the British.

The publication released in 2019, has been brought out in five volumes (zone wise).

The Yanomami are a relatively isolated tribe in South America. They live in
the rainforests and mountains of northern Brazil and southern Venezuela. They are
speakers of a Xirianá language, who live in the remote forest of the Orinoco River basin in
southern Venezuela and the northernmost reaches of the Amazon River basin in northern
Brazil.
# They have been threatened for several decades by illegal gold miners who invade their land
and bring diseases. They recently sent a request to India to stop buying Yanomami ‘Blood Gold’.

Both statements are correct.
Aadi Mahotsav is a national tribal festival and a joint initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) in which individual tribal artisans, tribal SHGs, agencies, organisations working with tribals participate.
It started in 2017 and has held many events all over the country since then. The virtual edition of Aadi Mahotsav- Madhya Pradesh was recently inaugurated.

To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland organizes the Hornbill Festival every year in the first week of December.
Organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, Hornbill Festival showcases a mélange of cultural displays under one roof. This festival usually takes place between the 1st and the 7th of December every year at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.
The Festival is named after the Indian Hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in folklore in most of the state’s tribes.
The state has decided to hold the festival on a virtual platform this year.

The Sports Ministry has approved the inclusion of four Indigenous Games to be a part of Khelo India Youth Games 2021, scheduled to take place in Haryana. The games include: Gatka, Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta and Mallakhamba.
Gatka is a traditional form of martial arts in Punjab, which is historically associated with Sikh Gurus and is popular among the masses as Sikh martial art.
Manipuri martial art is called Thang-Ta (sword and spear). It is dedicated to fighting skill and worship.
Kalaripayattu, also known simply as Kalari, is an Indian martial art that originated in modern-day Kerala.
Mallakhamb is a traditional sport of India in which a gymnast performs aerial yoga or gymnastic postures and wrestling grips in concert with a vertical stationary or hanging wooden pole, cane, or rope.

Dhokra is a non-ferrous metal casting style which uses the lost-wax technique. This style of metal casting has been in vogue in all parts of India for centuries.
Exquisite Dhokra products from different tribes of India were among the main items added in its 7th edition of “From Our Home to your Home” campaign on Tribes India, which focusses on sourcing new, natural, attractive as well as immunity-boosting tribal products and bringing them to the customer.
Among the dhokra products being introduced on Tribes India are attractive statues of fish, elephants and hangers in the boat jail design from the Lohra tribes of Jharkhand. From the Sadeibaraini tribals from Odisha, Ganesha statues, including a dancing Ganesha, a mask of Goddess Durga and Lord Jagannath, a Buddha Jaali and beautiful diyas in different shapes have been sourced.

The sighting of new menhirs, perhaps the largest-ever recorded in Kerala, on the Pothamala hills in Udumbanchola taluk on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, has thrown light on the possible existence of a major prehistoric necropolis there.

 The menhirs were identified by a team of historians led by Rajeev Puliyoor, assistant professor at the Government Teachers’ Training College, Elanthoor.

 The menhirs were planted in a specific geometrical pattern on a cluster of hills, Mr Puliyoor said.

 He said the exquisite natural settings of the hills and dales at Pothamala made the yet-to-be explored megalithic site different from similar sites spotted in other parts of the State.

 Most of these structures were oriented in the east-west direction.

 The megalithic stone sentinels at Pothamala might hold the key to hitherto unexplored facets of a civilisation that dated back around 3,000 years, said Mr. Puliyoor.

Shatrunjaya hills are considered as an ancient tirtha or pilgrimage especially by the Jain community. It is also known as Jain’s sacred hills.

 The name of the hill basically means “place of victory”. This beautiful range of mountains stands tall scaling height up to 164 feet above sea level.

 They are located in the city of Palitana in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India.

 Shetrunji River flows along the side of the hills.

 As Mecca is to Muslims and Jews’ to Jerusalem, Shatrunjaya is for Jain community of India.

 Every year cents of people scale this mountain to secure a place in heaven. Jainism comprises a small ratio of the Indian population with just about 4 million individuals.

 It is believed that the hills were first sanctified when the first Tirthankara namely Rishaba gave the sermon on the top of the hills.

 Shatrunjaya hills have almost 865 temples on the top.

Archaeologists have been busy digging out the treasures buried in Keeladi, a village in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, and historians and anthropologists are now interpreting the rich finds from the Sangam era.

 This is the fifth phase of excavations, and it has revealed many more artefacts and engineering designs.

 The fourth phase had established that the antiquities unearthed here could date from the 6th century BCE to the 1st century CE.

 The present phase has shed more light, particularly on the advanced engineering techniques used then, “establishing that there was a culture and civilisation” in the region, as one archaeologist puts it.

 This is the first time that such a large-scale excavation on a ‘habitational mount’ has been carried out in Tamil Nadu.

 The excavations offer insights into engineering techniques that are more than 2,000 years ago.