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The festival of Ratha Saptami, celebrated as the birthday of the Sun god, is mainly celebrated in which state?
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Answer: Option C — Andhra Pradesh
Detailed Solution
Ratha Saptami (also called Surya Jayanti or Magha Saptami) is a Hindu festival dedicated to Surya, the Sun god. It is celebrated on the seventh day (Saptami) of the bright half of the month of Magha (January-February), and it is especially important in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Ratha Saptami is believed to be the birthday of the Sun god. It also symbolises the turning of the Sun's chariot (ratha), drawn by seven horses, towards the north, marking the gradual arrival of spring and the harvest season. The seven horses are said to represent the seven colours of light or the seven days of the week.
On Ratha Saptami, devotees wake up before sunrise and take a holy bath, placing seven leaves of the "arka" (crown flower, Calotropis) or "ekka" plant on their head, shoulders and feet, which is believed to wash away the sins of seven births. They offer water (arghya) to the rising Sun, draw rangoli designs of the Sun's chariot in front of their homes, and cook rice with milk and jaggery in the sunlight as an offering.
In Andhra Pradesh, Ratha Saptami is celebrated with great devotion at the famous Sun temple at Arasavalli, in the Srikakulam district, one of the few temples in India where the Sun god is still worshipped. At the Tirumala Venkateswara temple, Ratha Saptami is celebrated as a "one-day Brahmotsavam" (Ardha Brahmotsavam), in which the deity is taken around the temple on seven different vahanams (vehicles) from sunrise to night, beginning with the Surya Prabha Vahanam.
Other festivals of the Sun include Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Chhath Puja.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Punjab celebrates Lohri and Baisakhi.
- ✗Gujarat celebrates Uttarayan, a Sun festival, in January.
- ✗Assam celebrates the Bihus.
Quick tip
Remember: Ratha Saptami = the Sun god's birthday, Magha Shukla Saptami, the Arasavalli Sun temple (Srikakulam) and the one-day Brahmotsavam at Tirumala.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.