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General Studies Paper 1 · By subject

Art & Culture — UPSC Mains GS Paper 1 PYQ

46 previous year questions on Art & Culture, 2013–2026, each with a model answer

← All GS Paper 1

2026

  1. Q1
    Analyze the importance of Ashokan inscriptions for reconstructing Mauryan history.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q11
    Vijayanagara architecture exemplifies the amalgamation of past traditions with contemporary practices. Elucidate with examples.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2025

  1. Q1
    Discuss the salient features of the Harappan architecture.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Examine the main aspects of Akbar’s religious syncretism.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q3
    ‘The sculptors filled the Chandella artform with resilient vigor and breadth of life.’ Elucidate.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2024

  1. Q1
    Underline the changes in the field of society and economy from the Rig Vedic to the later Vedic period.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Estimate the contribution of Pallavas of Kanchi for the development of art and literature of South India.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q11
    “Though the great Cholas are no more yet their name is still remembered with great pride because of their highest achievements in the domain of art and architecture.” Comment.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2023

  1. Q1
    Explain the role of geographical factors towards the development of Ancient India.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q11
    What are the main features of Vedic society and religion? Do you think some of the features are still prevailing in Indian society?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q12
    What were the major technological changes introduced during the Sultanate period? How did those technological changes influence the Indian society?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2022

  1. Q1
    How will you explain that medieval Indian temple sculptures represent the social life of those days?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q12
    Discuss the main contributions of Gupta period and Chola period to Indian heritage and culture.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q13
    Discuss the significance of the lion and bull figures in Indian mythology, art and architecture.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2021

  1. Q1
    Evaluate the nature of the Bhakti literature and its contribution to Indian culture.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2020

  1. Q1
    The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history. Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q11
    Indian philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q12
    Persian literary sources of medieval India reflect the spirit of the age. Comment.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2019

  1. Q1
    Highlight the Central Asian and Greco-Bactrian elements in the Gandhara art.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2018

  1. Q1
    Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese and Arab travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q11
    The Bhakti movement received a remarkable re-orientation with the advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Discuss.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2017

  1. Q1
    How do you justify the view that the level of excellence of the Gupta numismatic art is not at all noticeable in later times?
    10 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →

2016

  1. Q1
    Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Krishnadeva Raya, the King of Vijayanagar, was not only an accomplished scholar himself but was also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →

2015

  1. Q1
    The ancient civilization in Indian sub-continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without a breakdown to the present day. Comment.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Mesolithic rock cut architecture of India not only reflects the cultural life of the times but also a fine aesthetic sense comparable to modern painting. Critically evaluate this comment.
    12.5 marks 200 words Hard Model answer →

2014

  1. Q1
    To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present day urbanization? Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q2
    Gandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to the Greeks. Explain.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q3
    Taxila university was one of the oldest universities of the world with which were associated a number of renowned learned personalities of different disciplines. Its strategic location caused its fame to flourish, but unlike Nalanda, it is not considered as a university in the modern sense. Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q5
    Sufis and medieval mystic saints failed to modify either the religious ideas and practices or the outward structure of Hindu/Muslim societies to any appreciable extent. Comment.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2013

  1. Q1
    Though not very useful from the point of view of a connected political history of South India, the Sangam literature portrays the social and economic conditions of its time with remarkable vividness. Comment.
    10 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q2
    (a) Discuss the ‘Tandava’ dance as recorded in early Indian inscriptions. (b) Chola architecture represents a high watermark in the evolution of temple architecture. Discuss.
    10 marks 200 words Hard Model answer →

0

  1. •
    The Sufi silsilas were as much a sociological intervention as a spiritual movement in medieval India. Examine with reference to the Chishti and Suhrawardi orders.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  2. •
    The collapse of the Marathas at Panipat in 1761 was less a defeat in battle than a failure of political imagination. Critically analyse.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. •
    The Gupta period has been called India’s ‘Golden Age’ more for its cultural synthesis than its political reach. Critically analyse.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  4. •
    The Sangam polity of early Tamilakam was structured around three crowned kings and an elaborate code of patronage. Discuss with reference to Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms.
    15 marks 250 words Easy Model answer →
  5. •
    Chola maritime expansion under Rajaraja I and Rajendra I converted the Bay of Bengal into a Chola lake. Examine the political economy and architectural footprint of this expansion.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  6. •
    The Delhi Sultanate’s institutional core lay in its iqta system and standing army rather than in Persianate court culture. Examine with reference to the Khalji and Tughlaq experiments.
    10 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →
  7. •
    Vijayanagara was a Hindu rampart against Bahmani expansion, but its longevity depended on a Persianate military and a market-driven economy. Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  8. •
    The Rigvedic economy was pastoral in idiom but agrarian in practice. Examine with reference to irrigation, the kshetra and the role of women in early Vedic agriculture.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  9. •
    The Bhakti movement was not a single stream but a series of regional responses, each shaped by its linguistic and social context. Examine with reference to Nirguna and Saguna traditions.
    15 marks 250 words Easy Model answer →
  10. •
    Akbar’s Mansabdari system and his religious policy together built a more stable Mughal polity than military conquest alone could have produced. Critically analyse.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  11. •
    The Harappan civilisation was as much a hydraulic and town-planning achievement as a craft economy. Examine the archaeological evidence from Mohenjodaro, Dholavira and Lothal in support of this view.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  12. •
    Ashoka’s Dhamma was less a religion and more a political-ethical code for a vast empire. Discuss with reference to the Major Rock Edicts.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →

Other GS Paper 1 subjects

World HistoryWestern disturbances and winter precipitationSources of ancient Indian history and cultural traditionsSoil erosion and land degradation in IndiaSeismicity of the Indian platePost-Independence IndiaPlate tectonics and the Pacific Ring of FireModern Indian and world historyModern Indian HistoryInterior of the Earth and seismic evidenceIndian SocietyGeographyGeneral circulation and ocean currentsFluvial landforms and flood managementEarly states, religion and medieval polityCryosphere change in the HimalayaContinentality and maritime influence on climateClimate change and Indian monsoon variability