Set 9 | Important Indian Art, Architecture and Sculpture Objectives

Correct Answer is A.

• The Silver coin of Akbar has inscriptions of the Islamic declaration of faith.
• The declaration was, ’There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’.
• Coins of Akbar was referred as the Alf coins of Akbar, Alf refers to the millennium.

Correct Answer is B.

• The Government of the India has the sole right to mint coins.
• The East India Company introduced uniform coinage in the 19^th century CE and later on, these coins were imitated by the modern nation states of Republic of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
• Responsibility for coinage vests with the Government of India in terms of the Coinage Act, 1906 and later on, this act was amended various times.
• The coins are issued for circulation only through the Reserve Bank in terms of the RBI Act.
• Coins of Indian rupee were first minted in 1950.
• RBI prints all currency notes except one rupee denomination notes and its subsidiary coins.
• The designing and minting of coins in various denominations is the responsibility of the Government of India. Coins are minted at four Indian sites, Mumbai, Alipore(Kolkata), Saifabad(Hyderabad), Cherlapally(Hyderabad) and Noida(UP).

Correct Answer is C.

• Seated Buddha was discovered in 1870, by Bhagwanlal Indraji at Mankuwar, on the right bank of Yamuna, Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh.
• In the centre, there is a spoked wheel(symbolizing the dharma chakra). The pedestal is supported by two lions and also the legs are crossed. Whole posture looked like a yogic posture.
• The left hand rests in the lap and the right hand, with the palm facing the spectator(abhaya mudra).
• The neck has the usual triple folds and the face is quiet and somber.

Correct Answer is D.

• Standing Buddha was discovered in Sarnath, near Varanasi, confluence of Ganga and Varuna rivers, Uttar Pradesh.
• Lord Buddha stands with the left knee gently bent, the body gracefully flexed three times along the central axis and in Sanskrit,  this pose is called tri-bhahga(triple bent).
• The distended earlobes are without earrings. The half-preserved halo has a scalloped edge, indicating rays of light.
• The right hand seen as granting the freedom from fear(abhaya mudra).

Correct Answer is B.

• Standing Tara, is the feminine counterpart of a Bodhisattva.
• It was discovered in Sarnath during the 1904-1905 excavations.
• The weight of the body is thrown gently on the right leg.
• The jewelry is rich, delicate and consists of a multistranded girdle, armlets and a series of three necklaces.
• Large circular earrings adorn the ears.
• In the left hand the figure holds a ripe pompegranate, which has burst open to reveal a row of seeds.

Correct Answer is A.

• Bhitari is a village in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh is the site where the inscription of the ruler Skandagupta(455-475 AD) of the gupt dynasty found recording his victories over various enemies including the Huna invaders.
• This pillar is a part of a temple that once existed at this location. It rests upon a base that consists of a pot overflowing with flowers and foliage (ghata-pallava), supported by plump dwarfs at the corners.

Correct Answer is D.

• Mother –Goddesses are generally represented in group of seven. The image shows the high achievements of the Indo-Gangetic valley around the Kannuj area, UP.
• Three images have been missing or broken so only four are there, sometimes the figures are also known as four mother-goddesses.
• The first figure is the fierce Camunda, who dances on a prostrate figure being gnawed by a porcine animal.
• Next one is crowned Indrani, holding a lotus and vajra weapon in her upper hand and an elephant goad and and blue lotus in the upper left.
• Third one is boar-faced Varahi that holds a sword.
• The last image is Vaisnavi, who holds a discus, a mace and a conch