SSC
The 'Valvil Ori' festival, held in August to honour an ancient chieftain famous for his archery, is celebrated in which state?
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Answer: Option B — Tamil Nadu
Detailed Solution
The Valvil Ori festival (Valvil Ori Vizha) is celebrated every year in August in the Kolli Hills, in the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. It is organised by the Tamil Nadu government and the district administration to honour Valvil Ori, a legendary chieftain of the Sangam age who ruled the Kolli Hills.
Valvil Ori was a chieftain of the Kolli Hills in ancient Tamilakam, around the early centuries CE. He is celebrated in Sangam literature for his great skill in archery and his generosity. According to a famous poem in the Purananuru, an anthology of Sangam poems, he was so skilled that a single arrow from his bow pierced an elephant, a tiger, a deer, a boar and a lizard one after another. The name "Valvil" itself means "strong bow". He is also counted among the "Kadai Ezhu Vallalgal", the last seven great patrons of the Sangam period, who were famous for their generosity to poets, artists and the poor.
The festival is held in the Tamil month of Aadi, usually on 2 and 3 August, and it coincides with Aadi Perukku, a festival celebrating the rise of rivers during the monsoon. It includes an archery competition in memory of Valvil Ori, cultural programmes, exhibitions, folk dances and music, a flower show, and displays of the local tribal culture and produce. The Kolli Hills are home to the Malayali tribe and are known for their 70 hairpin bends, the Agaya Gangai waterfall and the ancient Arapaleeswarar temple. The festival is also intended to promote the Kolli Hills as a tourist destination.
Other festivals of Tamil Nadu include Pongal, Puthandu, Thaipusam, Karthigai Deepam, the Chithirai festival of Madurai and the Mamallapuram Dance Festival.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Kerala celebrates Onam and Vishu.
- ✗Karnataka celebrates the Mysuru Dasara and Hampi Utsav.
- ✗Andhra Pradesh celebrates Sankranti and Ugadi.
Quick tip
Remember: The Valvil Ori festival = the Kolli Hills (Namakkal, Tamil Nadu), August, archery and the Sangam chieftain Valvil Ori.
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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.