UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2022
1) How will you explain that medieval Indian temple
sculptures represent the social life of those days? (10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Discuss the significance of the lion and bull figures
in Indian mythology, art and architecture. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2021
1) Evaluate the nature of the Bhakti Movement and its
contribution to Indian culture.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2020
1) The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most
important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history.
Discuss.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Pala period is the most significant phase in the
history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate.(15 Marks, 250 Words)
3) Indian Philosophy and tradition played a significant
role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss.(15 Marks, 250
Words)
4) Persian literary sources of medieval India reflect the
spirit of the age. Comment.(15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2019
1) What are the challenges to our cultural practices in
the name of secularism? (10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over
the nation? Elaborate with examples(15 Marks, 250 Words)
3) Highlight the Central Asian and Greco-Bactrian
elements in Gandhara art.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
4) What makes Indian society unique in sustaining its
culture? Discuss
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2018
1) Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese
and Arab travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of
the moment. Discuss.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
3) The Bhakti movement received a remarkable
re-orientation with the advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Discuss.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2017
1) How do you justify the view that the level of
excellence of the Gupta numismatic art is not at all noticeable in later times?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2016
1) Krishnadeva Raya, the King of Vijayanagar, was not
only an accomplished scholar himself but was also a great patron of learning and literature.
Discuss.(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
2) Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs
and narratives successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2015
1) Mesolithic rock cut architecture of India not only
reflects the cultural life of the times but also a fine aesthetic sense comparable to modern
painting. Critically evaluate this comment.(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
2) The ancient civilization in 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.(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2014
1) Taxila university was one of the oldest universities
of the world with which were associated 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.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) 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.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
3) To what extent has the urban planning and culture of
the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present day urbanization?
Discuss.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
4) Gandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to
the Greeks.
Explain.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Ancient History and Art & Culture - 2013
1) Discuss the ‘Tandava’ dance as recorded in early
Indian inscriptions.(5 Marks, 100 Words)
2) Chola architecture represents a high watermark in the
evolution of temple architecture. Discuss.(5 Marks, 100 Words)
3) 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(10 Marks, 200 Words)
