[Mission 2023] STATIC QUIZ, 21 December 2022 – Art and Culture

Solution: d)

• Torana, is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes seen in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia.
• Torana is a sacred or honorific gateway in Buddhist and Hindu architecture. Its typical form is a projecting cross-piece resting on two uprights or posts. It is made of wood or stone, and the cross-piece is generally of three bars placed one on the top of the other; both crosspiece and posts are usually sculpted.
• Toranas are associated with Buddhist stupas like the Great Stupa in Sanchi, as well as with Jain and Hindu structures, and also with several secular structures.
• In Kalinga architecture we can see the Toran in many temples built from the 7th to 12^th centuries. Jagannath Temple, Puri, Rajarani Temple and Mukteswar Temple are the few example of Kalinga architecture having torana.

Solution: c)

• Thiruvalluvar is renowned Tamil poet and philosopher-saint believed to have lived between 3rd Century BC and 1st Century BC.

• He is the author of the book ‘Tirukkural (also known as the Kural), a work on ethics. It is one of the most revered ancient literally work in Tamil Language. Tirukkural is a classic Tamil sangam literature consisting of thousands of couplets or Kurals. The book is also called as the fifth Veda or ‘Bible of the Tamil Land’.

Solution: d)

• In some Sanskrit sources, the usage of the words “Yona”, “Yauna”, “Yonaka”, “Yavana” or “Javana” etc. appears repeatedly, and particularly in relation to the Greek kingdoms which neighboured or sometimes occupied the Punjab region over a period of several centuries from the 4th century BCE to the first century CE.
• The Yavanas are mentioned in detail in Sangam literature epics such as Pattinappalai, describing their brisk trade with the Early Cholas in the Sangam period.

Solution: c)

• The style of temple architecture that became popular in northern India is known as nagara. In North India it is common for an entire temple to be built on a stone platform with steps leading up to it. Further, unlike in South India it does not usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways. While the earliest temples had just one tower, or shikhara, later temples had several. The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower.

Solution: d)