Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains (2013-2023)
Kartavya Desk Staff
Art and Culture
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2023
• Explain the role of geographical factors towards the development of Ancient India. (10 Marks)
• What are the main features of Vedic society and religion? Do you think some of the features are still prevailing in Indian society?(15 marks)
• What were the major technological changes introduced during the Sultanate period? How did those technological changes influence the Indian society? (15 marks)
What were the major technological changes introduced during the Sultanate period? How did those technological changes influence the Indian society? (15 marks)
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2022
• How will you explain that medieval Indian temple sculptures represent the social life of those days?
• Discuss the significance of the lion and bull figures in Indian mythology, art and architecture.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2021
• Evaluate the nature of the Bhakti Movement and its contribution to Indian culture.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2020
• The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history. Discuss.
• Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate.
• Indian Philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss.
• Persian literary sources of medieval India reflect the spirit of the age. Comment.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2019
• Highlight the Central Asian and Greco-Bactrian elements in Gandhara art.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2018
• Safeguarding the Indian Art Heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss.
• Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese and Arab Travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India.
• The Bhakti movement received a remarkable re-orientation with the advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Discuss
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2017
• How do you justify the view that the level of excellence of the Gupta numismatic art is not at all noticeable in later times?
• Examine how the decline of the traditional artisanal industry in colonial India crippled the rural economy.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2016
• Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.
• Krishnadeva Raya, the King of Vijayanagar, was not only an accomplished scholar himself but was also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2015
• The ancient civilization in the Indian sub-continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without a breakdown to the present day. Comment.
• Mesolithic rock-cut architecture of India not only reflects the cultural life of the times but also a fine aesthetic sense comparable to modem painting. Critically evaluate this comment.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2014
• To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present-day urbanization? Discuss.
• Gandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to the Greeks. Explain.
• Taxila university was one of the oldest universities of the world with which were associated with a number of renowned learned personalities of different disciplines. Its strategic location caused its fame to flourish, but unlike Nalanda, it is not considered as a university in the modern sense. Discuss.
• Sufis and medieval mystic saints failed to modify either the religious ideas and practices or the outward structure of Hindu / Muslim societies to any appreciable extent. Comment.
#### Art and Culture Questions in UPSC Mains 2013
• Though not very useful from the point of view of a connected political history of South India, the Sangam literature portrays the social and economic conditions of its time with remarkable vividness. Comment.
• Discuss the Tandava dance as recorded in the early Indian inscriptions.
• Chola architecture represents a high watermark in the evolution of temple architecture. Discuss.