Indian Art, Architecture and Literature – UPSC GS1

"Salient aspects of art forms, literature and architecture from ancient to modern times" is the first line of the GS1 syllabus. Prelims asks several art and culture questions every year, usually on features, locations and…

The free-standing stone temple developed in India from about the Gupta period (5th century CE) and reached its height between the 8th and 13th centuries. A temple is not only a place of worship; it…

From the late twelfth century, the Turkish rulers of the Delhi Sultanate brought new building ideas from Central and West Asia – the true arch, the dome, minarets, the use of lime mortar and decoration…

Indian painting has a history of over ten thousand years, from the rock shelters of Bhimbetka to the murals of Ajanta, the miniatures of the Mughal and Rajput courts, the folk and tribal traditions still…

India's performing arts share a common root text: the Natyashastra, attributed to Bharata Muni (composed between about 200 BCE and 200 CE). It treats drama, dance and music as one art and explains the theory…

India has one of the oldest and most varied literary traditions in the world, in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali, Tamil and the other Dravidian languages, Persian and Urdu, and the modern Indo-Aryan languages. Literature carried…