SSC
The International Sand Art Festival, held at the Chandrabhaga beach near Konark, is held in which state?
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Answer: Option D — Odisha
Detailed Solution
The International Sand Art Festival is held every year at the Chandrabhaga beach near Konark, in the Puri district of Odisha. It is organised by Odisha Tourism, usually from 1 to 5 December, alongside the Konark Dance Festival.
The festival brings together sand artists from India and other countries, who create large and detailed sculptures from sand on the beach. The sculptures often show themes such as Indian mythology, history, culture, wildlife and environmental and social messages. The festival attracts thousands of visitors and promotes sand art and tourism in Odisha.
Odisha is famous for sand art, and the most celebrated sand artist of India, Sudarsan Pattnaik, is from Puri. He has won many international sand art competitions and has created large sculptures to spread messages about social issues, such as climate change, peace and health. He holds several Guinness World Records for his sand sculptures and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014. He has helped make sand art popular across India and the world.
The Chandrabhaga beach is close to the Sun Temple of Konark, a 13th century temple built by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty and designed as a huge stone chariot of the Sun god with 24 wheels pulled by seven horses. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1984). Every year, during the Magha Saptami, a large fair is held at the Chandrabhaga beach, when devotees bathe in the sea at sunrise and worship the Sun god.
The Konark Dance Festival, held at the same time, features classical dance performances in an open-air auditorium with the Sun Temple as its backdrop.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Goa is known for festivals such as the Goa Carnival and Shigmo.
- ✗Kerala is known for festivals such as Onam and the boat races.
- ✗Gujarat is known for the Rann Utsav and the International Kite Festival.
Quick tip
Remember: The International Sand Art Festival = the Chandrabhaga beach near Konark (Odisha), December and the sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik.
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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.