Music, dance and performing arts — UPSC Prelims PYQs
12 questions in this bank come from Music, dance and performing arts, spanning UPSC Prelims papers from 2012 to 2026. Every question here carries all four options, the correct answer and a full explanation.
It has appeared in 7 of the last 16 papers, most heavily in 2014 with 4 questions. That is a steady presence rather than a guaranteed one.
The themes examined most often within it are Indian dance and martial arts (6) and Musical traditions of India (6). Those counts are of questions in which the theme is examined, not merely mentioned.
Between them they draw on 2 distinct themes, so this is a broader area than a single revision note can cover. That is 0.8% of the 1433 questions in the bank — useful for deciding how much revision time it deserves.
Its weight has held steady, at roughly 0.6 questions a year across the last five papers.
It was not examined in 9 of those papers. Each question below links to its full explanation and to related questions on the same theme from other years, so a weak area can be worked through in one pass rather than hunted for paper by paper.
UPSC Prelims 20262 questions
UPSC Prelims 20251 question
UPSC Prelims 20191 question
UPSC Prelims 20171 question
UPSC Prelims 20144 questions
- History
With reference to India’s culture and tradition, what is ‘Kalaripayattu’?
- History
Consider the following pairs: 1. Garba: Gujarat 2. Mohiniattam: Odisha 3. Yakshagana: Karnataka Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
- History
A community of people called Manganiyars is well-known for their
- History
With reference to the famous Sattriya dance, consider the following statements: 1. Sattriya is a combination of music, dance and drama. 2. It is a centuries-old living tradition of Vaishnavites of Assam. 3. It is based on classical Ragas and Talas of devotional songs composed by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
UPSC Prelims 20131 question
UPSC Prelims 20122 questions
- History
How do you distinguish between Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dances? 1. Dancers occasionally speaking dialogues is found in Kuchipudi dance but not in Bharatnatyam 2. Dancing on the brass plate by keeping the feet on its edges is a feature of Bharatnatyam but Kuchipudi dance does not have such a form of movements. Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?
- History
With reference to Dhrupad, one of the major traditions of India that has been kept alive for centuries, Which of the following statements are correct? 1. Dhrupad originated and developed in the Rajput kingdoms during the Mughal period 2. Dhrupad is primarily a devotional and spiritual music 3. Dhrupad alap uses Sanskrit syllables from Mantras. Select the correct answer using the codes given below: