SSC MTS Exam

S t u d y M a t e r i a l f o r Genral Awareness
 ART AND CULTURE OF INDIA

Folk Theatre of India

Bhand Pather
● Bhand Pather is a traditional street theatre of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
● It takes up mythological stories as well as contemporary social issues as themes.
● This social drama incorporates acting, dance and music.

Yakshagana
● Yakshagana is the traditional folk theatre form of Indian state of Karnataka.
● It is based on mythological stories and Puranas

Krishnattam
● Krishanattam is a dance oriented folk theatre of Kerala.
● Krishnattam is a cycle of eight plays performed for eight consecutive days, presenting the
story of lord Krishna.

Swang
● Swang is a folk dance drama of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Malwa region of
Madhya Pradesh.
● The two important styles of Swang are from Rohtak and Haathras.

Nautanki
● Nautanki is a mass entertaining folk theatre popular in Haryana, Bihar Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Punjab etc.

Rasa Leela
● Rasleela is a theatre form of Uttar Pradesh.
● It is popular in Uttar Pradesh and some other parts of north India.

Jatra
● Jatra born and flourished in Bengal.
● This Bengali folk theatre originated in west Bengal as a result of the Bhakthi movement.

Bhaona
● Bhaona a traditional religious theatre originated and thrived in Assam.

Tamasha
● Tamasha is a traditional folk theatre form of Maharashtra. It has evolved from the folk forms
such as Gondhal, Jagran and Kirtan.
● Life of Lord Krishna is the major theme in most performances.

Dashavatar
 ● Dashavatar is a popular theatre form of the Southern Konkan region of Maharashtra and
Northern Goa regions.
● Dashavatar is open air performance. Performers wear masks is a feature of this theatrical
form.

Therukoothu
● Theukoothu is the most popular form of folk drama of Tamil Nadu.

Bhavai
● Bhavai is a traditional theatre form of Indian state Gujarat.
● Bhavai is usually performed to revere and worship goddess Amba.

Indian Music
● Music has always been an integral part of our culture.
● Bharat muni defined music as Nritya, gayan and vadan.
● The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest Vedas. The Samveda, one
of the four vedas, describes music at length.
● The basic scale (grama) of Indian music heptatonic and it has seven notes or svara -- sadja,
rishabha, gandhara, madhyama, panchama, dhaivata, nishada, which are abbreviated as sa,
ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni
● The sruti is a theoretical interval of which the scale contains 22.
● Pillars of Indian music system are Swara, Raga, Taal.
● Two main genres of Indian classical music are Hindustani and Carnatic.

Carnatic Music
● Carnatic Music flourished under the patronage of Krishnadevaraya in Vijayanagar, the capital
city of Vijayanagara Empire.
● The golden period of South Indian classical music was during the time of Tyagaraja,
Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri.
● Famous Carnatic Musicians:
o Thyagaraja
o Syama Sastri
o Muthuswami Dikshitar
o Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar
o Semmangudi R Srinivasa Iyer
o M S Subbulakshmi
o M Balamurali Krishna
o DK Pattammal
o ML Vasanthakumari

Hindustani Music
● Hindustani is a classical music genre of northern India.
● Amir Khusrau a prolific musician is associated with the khayal, tarana and qawwali styles of
music. He is often called the father of qawwali.
 ● Famous Hindustani Musicians:
o Zakir Hussain
o Shubha Mudgal
o Girija Devi
o Begum Akhtar
o Kishori amonkar
o Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
o Mallikarjun Mansoor
o Ravi Shankar
o Pandit Jasraj
o Ustad Amir Khan
o Abdul Rashid Khan

Regional Music in India

Music States related to

Rasiya Geet It is a popular folk music from Braj region of Uttar Pradesh
Pankhida Pankhida originated in the villages of Rajasthan
Lotia Rajasthan
Pandwani Chhattisgarh
Mando Goa
Hori Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Sohar Uttar Pradesh
Chhakri Jammu & Kashmir
Laman is an interesting style of Himachali folk music originated in
Laman
the kullu valley region
Kajri Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Tappa Punjab
Teej songs Rajasthan
Bhakha Jammu
Daskathia Odhisa
Bihu geet Assam
Burrakatha Andhra Pradesh
Lavani Maharashtra
Villu pattu Tamil Nadu
 Chai Hia Mizoram
Ammanaivari Tamil Nadu

Musical Instruments and Persons Associated

Musical Instrument Person

Santoor Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, Bhajan Sopori
Flute Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Ghosh, T.R. Mahalingam
Zakir Hussain, Allah Rakha, Sabir Khan, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, Pt. Jnan
Tabla
Prakash Ghosh, Sandeep Das
Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Buddhadev Das Gupta,
Sarod
Sharan Rani, Zarin S Sharma
Shehnai Bismillah Khan, Krishna Ram Chaudhary, Ali Ahmad Hussain
Pt Ravi Shankar, Shahid Parvez Khan, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Anushka
Sitar
Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Vilayat Khan, Mustaq Ali Khan
Shakoor Khan, Pt Ram Narayan, Ramesh Mishra, Sultan
Sarangi
Khan, Ustad Binda Khan
N.R. Muralidharan, M. Chandrasekharan, V.G. Jog, Lalgudi Jayaraman,
Violin
R.P Shastri
Veena Sundaram Balachandrer, Ayyagari Syamasundaram, Doraiswamy Iyengar
Rudra Veena Bahauddin Dagar, Asad Ali Khan, Asit Kumar Banerjee
Umalayapuram Sivaraman, Palghat Mani Iyer, Pudukkottai
Mridangam
Dakshinamurthy Pillai
kanjira Pudukkottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai
Mandolin U Srinivas
Guitar Braj Bhushan Kabra
Surbahar Annapurna Devi, Sajjad Hussain
Flute Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Ghosh, TR Mahalingam.

Indian Paintings

Mural Paintings
● Indian Mural Paintings are paintings made on walls of caves and palaces.
● Major Themes: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
● Some of the earliest murals in India are found in the caves of Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta
 also on the Bagh caves and Sittanvasal.
● Wall paintings found in the temples of Kailashnath Temple of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu,
Brihadesvara Temple of Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu and Buddhist viharas or monasteries and
chaitya or prayer halls in Ajanta in Maharashtra.

Miniature Paintings
● Miniature paintings are characterized with small and detailed paintings.
● Miniature paintings are those executed on a very small scale on perishable material such as
paper, cloth, etc., though this style had been perfected by artisans under the various rules,
not many remain today. Prime examples are the Rajasthani & Mughal miniatures.
● Religious texts on Buddhism executed under the Palas of the eastern India as well as the Jain
texts executed in western India are the some of the earliest of miniature painting in the
country.

Folk Paintings

The folk and tribal arts of India are very ethnic and colorful and vibrant enough to speak volumes
about the country's rich heritage. Some of the most famous folk paintings of India are discussed
below:

Madhubani Painting
● It is practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar.
● Traditionally done by women.
● No space is left empty in Madhubani paintings. Gaps are filled in with paintings of flowers,
animals, birds and geometric designs.
● Tribal motifs and bright earthy colours are other aspects that make these paintings
attractive.
● The different styles of Madhubani paintings are Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, Godna and Kohbar.
● Mahasundari Devi is the famous artist of the Madhubani painting.

Patachitra
● Pattachitra is a disciplined ancient art genre from Odisha.
● Paintings are based on the Balrama, Subhadr, Lord Jagannath, Dashavatara and the scenes
related to the life Lord Krishna.

Kalamkari
● The Indian style of Kalamkari painting flourished in Kalahasti and Machilipatnam in Andhra
Pradesh.
● It is a type of hand-paints or block-printed cotton textile, produced kalamkari sarees from
parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Pithora Painting
● It is the folk painting of Rathvas and Bhilalas tribes of Gujarati

Kolam
● Kolam is a ritualistic design drawn at the threshold of households and temples.
● It is drawn by women every day at dawn and dusk in South India.
● Kolam is a free-hand drawing with symmetrical and neat geometrical patterns.
Warli Paintings
● This folk painting style belongs to the warli tribe of Maharashtra.
● Warli is one of the oldest art forms of India.

Kalighat Paintings
● It originated in the vicinity of Kalighat Kali Temple (Kolkata).
● The themes for these paintings extend from mythological events to contemporary social
issues.

Thangka Paintings
● It is a Tibetan folk painting.
● In this art form, images of Buddha paintings are made on the cotton or silk cloths.

Famous Indian Artists and Their Paintings

Painter/Artist Famous Work

Hamsa Damayanti, Shakuntala, Arjuna and
Raja Ravi Varma
Subhadra
Nihal Chand Bani Thani, Dipavalika
Binod Behari Mukherjee Villagers
Syed Haider Raza Saurashtra
Tyeb Mehta Mahishasura
Mother and Child, Krishna and Balarama,
Jamini Roy
Warrior King
Arpita Singh Wish Dream
Landscape, Dancing Woman, Woman's Face,
Rabindranath Tagore
Head Study (Geometric)
Abanindranath Tagore Bharat Mata, Ganesh Janani, Asoka’s Queen

Indian Martial Arts

Martial Arts Originated from

Kalaripayattu Kerala
Silambam Tamil Nadu
Thoda Himachal Pradesh
Thang-ta and Sarit Sarak Manipur
Cheibi Gadga Manipur
Gatka Punjab
 Lathi Punjab & Bengal
Musti Yuddha Varanasi
Pari-Khanda Bihar
Kathi Samu Andhra Pradesh
Karra Samu Andhra Pradesh
Mukna Manipur
Inbuan Wrestling Mizoram
Mardani Khel Kolhapur, Maharashtra

Calendars in India

In India, four types of calendars are followed:

● Vikram Samvat
● Saka Samvat
● Hijri calendar
● Gregorian calendar

Vikram Samvat (Hindu Lunar Calendar)

● The Vikram Samvat is a historical calendar for the Hindus in India.
● Vikram Samvat is an official calendar of Nepal and is named after the King Vikramaditya of
Ujjain.
● This is a calendar based on the movement of the moon and has 365 days in a year.
● The Vikram Samvat has 12 months with each month divided into two phases:
o Shukla paksha (15 days) – begins with new moon day and ends with full moon day
o Krishna paksha (15 days) – begins with full moon day and ends with new moon day

Saka Era
● The Saka Era was founded by Kanishka, the emperor of Kushana Empire from the year 78
A.D.
● The Gazette of India uses this calendar along with the Gregorian Calendar.
● The Saka calendar used as the official calendar in the country is the National Calendar of
India.
● The Saka calendar consists of 365 days and 12 months which is similar to the structure of the
Gregorian calendar.
● The first month of the Saka Satvam is Chaitra which begins on March 22 which begins with
March 21 during the leap year.

Hijra Calendar
● The Hijri calendar is an Islamic lunar calendar which consists of 12 lunar months and 355
days.
 ● The first Islamic year began in 622 AD and is believed to mark the emigration of Prophet
Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
● The first day of the year in Hijra calendar is observed on the first day of Muharram, which is
the first month in the Islamic calendar.
● Muslims use this calendar to decide the days on which to observe Ramadan, to attend Hajj,
and to celebrate other Islamic festivals.

Gregorian Calendar
● Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII and is the most used
calendar in the world.
● Gregorian calendar spaces leap years to make the average year 365.2425 days long,
approximating the 365.2422-day tropical year that is determined by the Earth's revolution
around the Sun.
● The Gregorian calendar was developed as a correction to the Julian Calendar.

Indian Languages
● The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of 22 languages; originally, there were 14
languages in the 8th schedule.
● The further languages were added as later:
o Sindhi by 21st amendment, 1967
o Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali languages by 71st amendment, 1992
o Bodo, Dogri, Santhali and Maithali by 92nd Amendment, 2004.

The 22 official languages and related states are:

● ASSAMESE – Assam
● BENGALI – West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Tripura, West Bengal
● BODO – Assam
● DOGRI – Jammu and Kashmir
● GUJARATI – Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli
● HINDI – Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, the national capital territory of Delhi,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh.
● KANNADA – Karnataka
● KASHMIRI – Jammu and Kashmir
● KONKANI – Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra
● MAITHILI – Bihar
● MALAYALAM – Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Kerala
● MANIPURI – Manipur
● MARATHI – Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Maharashtra
● NEPALI – Sikkim, West Bengal
● ODIYA – Odisha
● PUNJABI – Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab
● SANSKRIT – Only in scriptures. Not in usage.
● SANTHALI – Santhal tribal of the Chota Nagpur Plateau (comprising the states of Orissa,
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand)
 ● SINDHI – Sindhi community
● TAMIL – Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu.
● TELUGU – Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
● URDU – Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana

Classical Languages

To determine the eligibility of language to be considered as a classical language the Government of

India follows the following criteria:
● High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years.
● A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of
speakers.
● The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
● The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a
discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.
● Tamil was the first Classical Language of India.
● Current classical Languages are:
o Tamil (since 2004)
o Sanskrit (since 2005)
o Telugu (since 2008)
o Kannada (Since 2008)
o Malayalam (since 2013)
o Odiya (since 2014)

Some Important Points About Languages

● Tamil language was used in the literature of Sangam period.
● Dravidian languages are Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
● Konkani language recently included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution, which is widely
spoken in goa.
● Tamil is the oldest Dravidian language.
● Sahitya Academy promotes and develops literature in all the 22 languages of India.
● The languages spoken in Sikkim are Nepali, Hindi, Lepcha, Bhutani.
● The language spoken in Lakshadweep islands is Malayalam.
● The oldest Indian Language is Tamil.
● Official language of Nagaland is English.
● The Indian language known as the 'Italian of the East' is Telugu.
● The official language of the Supreme Court and High Court as prescribed by the Constitution
of India is English.

Some Important One Liners

● The Sangai Festival is celebrated in Manipur.
● Elephant festival is celebrated annually in Jaipur.
● ‘Me-Dam-Me-Phi’ is a communal festival. It is observed by the Ahom or Tai-Ahom, ethnic
community that is spread across the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
● Iron craft is the traditional work of the Agaria tribe.
● Karnataka confers the Basavashree award.
● A Fire temple is a place of worship for Zoroastrians.
● The Barabar Hill Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India.
● Matrimandir is located in Pondicherry.
● The Chapchar Kut is a festival of Mizoram. It is celebrated in March.
● The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site of the Palaeolithic period. It is located
in Madhya Pradesh.
● Kambala Sport is held in Karnataka.
● Castle Naggar heritage site is located in Himachal Pradesh.
● Gudi Padwa is celebrated on the first day of the month of Chaitra (March-April). The day is
celebrated as New Year's Day for the people of Maharashtra.
● World’s largest religion is Christian.
● Chakan Gaan-Ngai, a post-harvest festival is celebrated in Manipur.
● Hornbill Festival is celebrated in Nagaland.
● Akshardham temple is situated in Delhi, is revered for Hindu deity Swami Narayan.
● Rajgir Mahotsav is celebrated in Bihar.
● The birth place of Guru Nanak is Nankana Sahib.
● The famous painter Vincent van Gogh belonged to Netherlands.
● Pablo Picasso belonged to Spain.
● Nand Lal Bose, Manjit Bawa, Tyeb Mehta are Painters.
● Warli painting is a style of tribal art.This tribal art was originated in Maharashtra.
● Raja Harishchandra, an early Indian film was produced by Dada Saheb Phalke.
● Homi Vyarawalla is acclaimed as India's first Lady Photojournalist.
● Ikebana is Japanese art of flower arrangement.
● The technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid lime plaster is known as Fresco.
● Ramkinker Baij was a well-known sculptor.
● Chamba is famous for embroidered handkerchief.
● Indian Council for Cultural Relations was founded by Abul Kalam Azad.
● Irula tribe well-known for snake-catching are native to Tamil Nadu.
● Kondapalli the place famous for toys is located in Andhra Pradesh.
● The city famous for its Chikankari work of embroidery is Lucknow.
● Film and Television Institute of India located in Pune.
● Japanese art of paper folding is known as Origami.
● Chatkora dance is the folk dance of Korku tribe of Madhya Pradesh.
● Devanagari script is used to write Haryanvi language.
● Lathmar Holi is celebrated in Barsana.
● Bihu is post-harvest folk dance in Assam.
● Aadiperukku commonly known as the Aadi Monson Festival is celebrated during months of
July/ August in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu.
● Kajri is a song sung during rainy season.
● Maha Kumbh Mela is generally organized every 12 years.
● Piliya will be sung during occasion of birth.