Chapter 3 of 15

Art & Culture

In the DSSSB AE Civil syllabus under General Awareness · 2 parts

Indian Art & Culture — Dance, Music & Festivals · Monuments & UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

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📑 Contents (14 sections)

Part 1 of 2

Indian Art & Culture — Dance, Music & Festivals

Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · 3 min read

Classical dances

The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises eight classical dance forms:

Dance	State	Marks of the form
Bharatanatyam	Tamil Nadu	solo, temple origin, sharp lines and araimandi posture
Kathak	Uttar Pradesh	footwork and spins; the only classical form with a Persian-influenced court tradition
Kathakali	Kerala	male dance-drama, elaborate make-up and headgear
Kuchipudi	Andhra Pradesh	dance-drama with spoken word; the brass-plate dance
Odissi	Odisha	tribhanga posture, temple sculpture come alive
Manipuri	Manipur	Ras Lila, gentle and rounded movement
Mohiniyattam	Kerala	solo, feminine (lasya) style
Sattriya	Assam	from the Vaishnava monasteries (sattras) of Sankardeva

Folk dances worth knowing: Bhangra and Giddha (Punjab), Garba and Dandiya (Gujarat), Ghoomar and Kalbeliya (Rajasthan), Lavani (Maharashtra), Bihu (Assam), Chhau (Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal), Yakshagana (Karnataka), Theyyam (Kerala), Rouf (Kashmir), Karma (Chhattisgarh).

Music

Hindustani (north) and Carnatic (south) are the two classical systems. Carnatic is more composition-centred, Hindustani more improvisatory.
The raga sets the melodic frame and the tala the rhythmic cycle: Teentaal (16 beats), Ektaal (12), Jhaptaal (10), Rupak (7).
Hindustani gharanas: Gwalior, Kirana, Jaipur-Atrauli, Agra, Patiala.
Instruments: sitar (Ravi Shankar), sarod (Ali Akbar Khan), shehnai (Bismillah Khan), santoor (Shivkumar Sharma), flute (Hariprasad Chaurasia), tabla (Zakir Hussain), veena and mridangam in the Carnatic tradition.
Carnatic trinity: Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri.

Part 2 of 2

Monuments & UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · Facts as of 22 Sept 2026 · 4 min read

NoteAbout the list

UNESCO adds sites every year, so a list of "how many India has" dates quickly. The sites named below have been inscribed for years and are the ones papers ask about; treat any total as needing a check against the current UNESCO list.

The three categories

Cultural — monuments, groups of buildings, archaeological sites.
Natural — landscapes, habitats, geological formations.
Mixed — both, of which India's example is Khangchendzonga National Park (Sikkim).

Well-known cultural sites

Site	State	Known for
Taj Mahal	Uttar Pradesh	Shah Jahan's marble mausoleum; pietra dura
Agra Fort	Uttar Pradesh	red sandstone Mughal fort
Fatehpur Sikri	Uttar Pradesh	Akbar's capital; Buland Darwaza
Qutb Minar complex	Delhi	tallest brick minaret; the iron pillar
Humayun's Tomb	Delhi	first great Mughal garden tomb
Red Fort complex	Delhi	Shah Jahan's Shahjahanabad
Ajanta caves	Maharashtra	Buddhist murals
Ellora caves	Maharashtra	Kailasa temple cut from one rock
Elephanta caves	Maharashtra	Trimurti sculpture
Khajuraho	Madhya Pradesh	Nagara temples with sculpture
Sanchi	Madhya Pradesh	Great Stupa, Ashokan pillar
Konark Sun Temple	Odisha	chariot of stone
Mahabalipuram	Tamil Nadu	Pallava rathas and shore temple
Great Living Chola Temples	Tamil Nadu	Brihadeshwara, Thanjavur
Hampi	Karnataka	Vijayanagara capital
Pattadakal	Karnataka	Chalukyan temples, Nagara and Dravida together
Group of Monuments, Champaner-Pavagadh	Gujarat	pre-Mughal Islamic and Hindu city
Rani ki Vav	Gujarat	stepwell at Patan
Jantar Mantar	Rajasthan	Jai Singh's masonry observatory
Hill Forts of Rajasthan	Rajasthan	Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh and others
Churches and Convents of Goa	Goa	Basilica of Bom Jesus
Mountain Railways of India	multiple	Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Kalka-Shimla
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus	Maharashtra	Victorian Gothic railway station
Bodh Gaya, Mahabodhi Temple	Bihar	site of the Buddha's enlightenment
Nalanda Mahavihara	Bihar	ruins of the monastic university
Jaipur city	Rajasthan	planned 18th-century walled city
Dholavira	Gujarat	Harappan city with water reservoirs

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