SSC
The 'Navam Perahera' festival is celebrated in which country?
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Answer: Option A — Sri Lanka
Detailed Solution
The Navam Perahera is a famous Buddhist festival of Sri Lanka, held every year in February, on the full moon day of the month of Navam, at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo. It is one of the most colourful and popular religious processions in Sri Lanka.
A "perahera" is a grand religious procession, a tradition in Sri Lankan Buddhism. The Navam Perahera features a long procession of decorated elephants, dancers, drummers, musicians, fire-twirlers, whip-crackers and performers in traditional costumes, who move through the streets around the Beira Lake in Colombo over two nights. The leading elephant carries a casket containing sacred relics of the Buddha. The procession displays the traditional dances of Sri Lanka, such as the Kandyan dance, the low-country dance and the Sabaragamuwa dance. The festival marks the Navam full moon day, which is linked with the day on which the Buddha appointed his two chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana. The Navam Perahera was started in 1979 by the Gangaramaya Temple.
The most famous perahera in Sri Lanka is the Esala Perahera of Kandy, held in July-August in honour of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha, which is kept at the Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy. It is one of the oldest and grandest Buddhist festivals in the world.
Other major festivals of Sri Lanka include Vesak (Vesak Poya), the celebration of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death in May; Poson, which marks the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka with Mahinda, the son of Emperor Ashoka; and the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Thailand is known for festivals such as Songkran (water festival) and Loy Krathong.
- ✗Myanmar is known for festivals such as Thingyan and Thadingyut.
- ✗Nepal is known for festivals such as Dashain and Tihar.
Quick tip
Remember: The Navam Perahera = Sri Lanka and the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo; the Esala Perahera = the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.
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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.