UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 23 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Sattriya Dance
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicIndian Dance Forms
- DifficultyHard
- TypeStatement
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?
Show answer
Answer: B. 1 and 2 only
Verdict
The answer is 1 and 2 only. Sattriya is a composite music, dance and drama tradition of the Assamese Vaishnavites, but it is not based on songs by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai.
Analysis
Statement 1 is CORRECT. Sattriya combines dance, music and dramatic narration and grew out of the one act plays performed in the sattras. Statement 2 is CORRECT. It is a centuries old living tradition maintained by the Vaishnavite monasteries of Assam. Statement 3 is INCORRECT in its second half. The form does rest on classical ragas and talas, but the devotional songs are the borgeets composed by Sankardeva and Madhavdeva, not by the north Indian Bhakti poets named in the option.
Source
Centre for Cultural Resources and Training page on Sattriya.
How to crack it
This is a partly true statement, the most dangerous kind. Read statement 3 in two halves and grade each half separately, because UPSC attaches a correct musical description to a wrong list of composers. The general rule for regional art forms is that the associated literature is regional too: Sattriya goes with Sankardeva and Assam, not with a pan Indian Bhakti roster. Mismatched geography of a composer is a standard trap in art and culture.