Indian Art and Culture

What the official syllabus says

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, General Studies Paper I:

History of India and Indian National Movement.

Art and culture is not a separate line in the Prelims syllabus. This page gathers the cultural side of Indian history (architecture, sculpture, painting, performing arts, religion, philosophy and literature) that the history line covers.

Topics in detail

Architecture

• Harappan town planning and buildings
• Rock-cut architecture: Barabar caves (Mauryan), Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Karla and Bhaja chaityas and viharas
• Stupas: Sanchi, Bharhut, Amaravati; parts of a stupa (anda, harmika, chhatra, torana)
• Temple architecture: Nagara, Dravida and Vesara styles; parts of a temple (garbhagriha, mandapa, shikhara, vimana, gopuram)
• Major temples: Pallava monuments at Mahabalipuram, Brihadeeswarar at Thanjavur (Rajaraja I), Khajuraho (Chandelas), Konark Sun Temple, Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebidu
• Indo-Islamic architecture: arch, dome and minaret; Qutb Minar, Alai Darwaza, Gol Gumbaz (Bijapur), provincial styles
• Mughal architecture: Humayun's Tomb, Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, Red Fort; char bagh gardens
• Colonial architecture: Indo-Saracenic style, New Delhi (Lutyens and Baker)

Sculpture and metal craft

• Harappan seals, the bronze 'dancing girl', terracotta figures
• Mauryan polished pillars and capitals (the Sarnath lion capital, India's national emblem)
• Gandhara, Mathura and Amaravati schools of sculpture
• Chola bronzes, including Nataraja

Painting

• Prehistoric rock paintings (Bhimbetka)
• Ajanta murals; Pala manuscript painting
• Mughal miniatures; Rajasthani schools (Mewar, Kishangarh, Bundi); Pahari schools (Basohli, Kangra); Deccani painting
• Folk and tribal painting: Madhubani (Mithila), Warli, Pattachitra, Kalamkari, Gond, Phad, Kalighat
• Modern painting: Raja Ravi Varma, the Bengal School (Abanindranath Tagore), Amrita Sher-Gil

Performing arts

• Bharata's Natya Shastra and the concepts of rasa and bhava
• The eight classical dances recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam and Sattriya, with their States
• Hindustani and Carnatic music: raga, tala, gharanas, musical forms (dhrupad, khayal, thumri, kriti); the Carnatic trinity (Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri)
• Musical instruments and their classification
• Folk dances of the States; theatre forms such as Koodiyattam, Yakshagana, Jatra, Nautanki, Tamasha and Bhavai; puppetry traditions

Religion and philosophy

• The six orthodox schools (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta) and the heterodox schools (Buddhism, Jainism, Charvaka)
• Buddhist and Jain art, councils and sacred sites
• Bhakti and Sufi traditions and their literature
• Sikhism, Zoroastrianism (Parsis), Christianity and Islam in India

Language and literature

• Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit literature; Sangam and later Tamil classics
• The classical languages of India: Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia, joined in 2024 by Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali
• The 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution
• Scripts: Indus, Brahmi, Kharosthi and their descendants

Living heritage and institutions

• Fairs and festivals; handicrafts, textiles and Geographical Indication (GI) tags
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India and India's elements on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list (for example Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Durga Puja in Kolkata, Garba of Gujarat)
• Cultural institutions: Archaeological Survey of India (1861, Alexander Cunningham), Sangeet Natak Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi
• Indian calendars and eras; the Saka calendar as the national calendar

Overlaps

Art forms, literature and architecture from ancient to modern times are the first topic of Mains General Studies I. Cultural news (GI tags, heritage listings) comes up under Current Events.