Previous Year Question
With reference to the Indian history of art and culture, consider the following pairs:
Famous work of sculpture | Site |
1. A grand image of Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana with numerous celestial musicians above and the sorrowful figures of his followers below | Ajanta |
2. A huge image of Varaha Avatar (boar incarnation) of Vishnu, as he rescues Goddess Earth from the deep and chaotic waters, sculpted on rock | Mount Abu |
3. “Arjuna’s Penance”/“Descent of Ganga” sculpted on the surface of huge boulders | Mamallapuram |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
Pair 1 is correctly matched.
The grand Mahaparinirvana image of the Buddha is situated in Cave 26 at Ajanta.
Cave 26 is a rock-cut chaityagriha. It depicts the Buddha reclining on his right side at the moment of Mahaparinirvana.
Celestial beings and musicians appear above, while grieving followers are represented below.
Therefore, its association with Ajanta is correct.
Pair 2 is incorrectly matched.
The enormous rock-cut relief depicting Vishnu’s Varaha incarnation rescuing Goddess Earth is located in the Udayagiri Caves near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, not at Mount Abu.
It is situated in Cave 5 and belongs to the period of Gupta ruler Chandragupta II.
Varaha is represented lifting the Earth goddess on his tusk.
Pair 3 is correctly matched.
“Arjuna’s Penance” or the “Descent of Ganga” is a monumental open-air rock relief at Mamallapuram.
It is associated with the reign of Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman I—Mamalla.
It was carved on natural boulders, and the central cleft is also interpreted as the descending River Ganga.
This explains its two commonly used titles—“Arjuna’s Penance” and the “Descent of Ganga”.