UPSC Prelims 2018 · Question 44 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2018 question on Tyagaraja Kritis
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2018
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicIndian Music
- DifficultyHard
- TypeStatement
With reference to cultural history of India, consider the following statements:
1. Most of the Tyagaraja Kritis are devotional songs in praise of Lord Krishna.
2. Tyagaraja created several new ragas.
3. Annamacharya and Tyagaraja are contemporaries.
4. Annamacharya kirtanas are devotional songs in praise of Lord Venkateshwara.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 and 4 only
Verdict
Statements 2 and 4 are correct, so the answer is (b) 2 and 4 only.
Statement by statement
Statement 1 is INCORRECT. Most of Tyagaraja's songs were in praise of Rama rather than Krishna, though both are regarded as incarnations of Vishnu, which is what makes the substitution plausible.
Statement 2 is CORRECT. Tyagaraja is credited with various musical innovations, including a structured variation of musical lines within performance, possibly derived from improvisatory technique.
Statement 3 is INCORRECT. Tyagaraja belonged to the 18th century and Annamacharya to the 15th, so they were separated by roughly three centuries and were not contemporaries.
Statement 4 is CORRECT. Annamacharya was a 15th century saint and the earliest known Indian musician to compose sankirtanas in praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu.
Source
The Hindu article on the saint composers, and Hans India profile of Annamacharya.
How to crack it
Statement 3 is the cheapest kill, because the two composers sit in different centuries and every option except (b) contains statement 1 or 3. Fix each saint composer to a century and to a presiding deity, since UPSC's favourite move here is to swap Rama for Krishna or to make two figures contemporaries.