Indian Art and Culture GK Questions

A [Odisha]

Notes:

Boita Bandana is a boat festival to commemorate the maritime glory of Odisha. It is observed every year on the full moon day in the month of Kartik.

The festival commemorates the ancient maritime activities and trade relations of Odisha with Southeast Asian countries. This historical event is commemorated by the symbolic act of floating miniature boats made of banana stems, paper, and coloured cloth in water bodies like rivers, ponds, and the sea. The ritual pays homage to the brave sailors who ventured into the sea for trade.

B [Assam]

Notes:

The annual Raas Mahotsav or Raas Leela has started in Assam’s Majuli, the world’s largest inhabited river island.

Majuli is the core of Assamese Neo-Vaishnavism. The river island over the river Brahmaputra has dozens of Vaishnavite monasteries, locally called Satras. Locals perform Bhaona, a traditional form of drama where artists play various mythological characters. Bhaona was started in the fifteenth or sixteenth century by a social-religious reformer and a figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of Assam, Srimanta Sankardeva.

A [Greece]

Notes:

‘Meidias hydria’, an Ancient Greek vase from 420 BC, on loan from the British museum for the temporary exhibition titled Meanings’ at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.

The ‘Meidias hydria’ leaves London for the first time in 250 years. The loan comes amid a dispute between Greece and Britain over the permanent return of the Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum to Athens. The 2,500-year-old hydria, signed by Athenian potter Meidias, is decorated with red figures reflecting the mythical encounters of humans with ancient Greek gods, among them half-mortal Hercules, the goddess of love Aphrodite, and Zeus.

B [Gujarat]

Notes:

Gujarat’s traditional dance form ‘Garba’ was included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.

The popular dance form is the 15th cultural item from India to make it to UNESCO list two years after Kolkata’s Durga Puja was last added to the prestigious list.