quiz finals (on ramayana and mahabharata) @ kalakriti 2014

QUIZ FINALS

GENERAL RULES

• Direct questions carry 20 points• Passed question carry 10 points• POUNCE – Gives you a chance to score even if

the question is not direct. Register your answer for pounce before the question is made open to all. You get +20 if your answer is right and -10 if your answer is wrong

ROUND 1

ANSWER WITHOUT A CLUE

RULES• Participants will be given 3 clues one after another.• First clue is displayed for you. Subsequent clues will be displayed on request.• 20, 15 and 10 points for answering on the first, second and third clues respectively.•Pounce is open only for the first clue.

IDENTIFY• MANY VERSIONS OF HIS

DEATH EXIST, THE MOST POPULAR ONE BEING SACRIFICED TO ENSURE VICTORY IN THE BATTLE FOR THE PANDAVAS.

• A VERY POPULAR TAMIL RITUAL IS OBSERVED BY A PARTICULAR MARGINALISED COMMUNITY IN TAMIL NADU; INFACT THE COMMUNITY DERIVES ITS NAME FROM HIM.

ARAVAN / IRAVAN

WHO IS HE?

• HE EMERGED FROM FIRE A FULLY GROWN AND ARMED MAN WITH THE PURPOSE OF KILLING A MAN

• HE WAS KILLED AFTER THE WAR

• HE WAS THE FIRST COMMANDER OF THE PANDAVA ARMY.

DHRSTADYUMNA

IDENTIFY X

• Robert Oppenheimer quoted “now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds” after witnessing the first nuclear explosion. Later , he said that he took the inspiration for the above statement from x.

• X inspired the Indian freedom movement to a large extent

• X refers to particular group of 700 verses in the Bhisma parva

THE BHAGAVAD GITA

IDENTIFY X

• They are a group of 5 men who are called by a collective name in the Mahabharata (not the Pandavas)

• They were mistaken for their fathers by their killer

• They were killed in the Sauptika Parva

UPAPANDAVAS • Shrutavindhya, • Sutasoma, • Srutakirti, • Satanika • Srutakarma

The sons of Draupadi born from each of the Pandavas

IDENTIFY THE BOOK

• The book talks about the origin of cosmos, lineage of the kings of solar and lunar dynasties. It contains the story of Yayaati, Puru, Kuru, and also talks about Janamejaya and his Sarpayaaga

• It contains 2 major sub- divisions

• It is often considered to be an extension(khila) to the Mahabharatam

HARIVAMSA

• Name of yogic power used by Sanjaya to narrate the happening in Kurukshetra to Dhrithirashtra.

• Valmiki was blessed with the same power

• It is a common word in Indian entertainment

DOORDARSHAN

ROUND 2

VISUAL CONNECT ROUND

CONNECT

ADAM’S BRIDGE –

SETHU SAMUDRAM

CONNECT

OCCUPATION OF PANDAVAS DURING THEIR

PERIOD OF INCOGNITOYUDHISTHIRA- GAMBLER COMPANION TO

THE KING OF VIRATA BHIMA- COOK

ARJUNA- DANCE TEACHERNAKUL- KEEPER OF THE STABLES

SAHADEVA- KEEPER OF THE COWS

CONNECT

THREE OF THE PANCHA- MAHAKAVYAS BASED ON THE

MAHABHARATHA

CONNECT

Characters common to both Ramayana and Mahabharata

CONNECT

1000 12

VISHNU SAHASRANAMA

CONNECT

CHAKRAVYUHA

ROUND 3

NO LIFE WITHOUT REASON

1) Yudhisthira’s chariot was always 4 inches above the

ground. This was because in spite of being a mere mortal,

he always followed the dharma. But after a certain

incident it touched the ground. On account of what

mistake on the part of Yudhisthira did this occur?

Explain fully. No part points.

During the battle , he lied to Dronacharya that

Ashvattama (the elephant) had died. Drona as a

result sat in meditation and was slain by

Dhristadveemana.

2) The word Danda in Samskrtam means punishment.

Incidentally Rama spent a considerable time of his exile in the

Dandaka vana which literal translation gives the meaning “The

cursed jungle”. Why was this jungle called Dandaka and explain

the incident behind it.

Dandan, a king molested the daughter of

Sukracharya. In anger, Sukracharya gave a curse that

the kingdom would be reduced to ashes. The place

destroyed by Sukracharya's curse was the Dandaka

vana. When Rama went to Dandaka vana during his

period of exile, the curse of thse jungle was

completely removed.

3) During the end of the 13th year of incognito,

the Kauravas attacked the kingdom of Virata

suspecting that Pandavas were in incognito in

that kingdom. Which incident made them

suspect Pandava presence in the kingdom of

Virata?

The news of the death of Kichaka, brother- in- law

of the Virata king supposedly killed by a gandharva

for misbehaving with his wife reached the Kauravas.

They rightly suspected that the woman in question

was Draupadi and it was Bhima who had killed

Kichaka

4) Why did Janamejaya perform the snake- sacrifice?

Parikshit, father of Janamejaya was killed by the snake-

chieftain , Takshak. Janamejaya thus bore a deep

grudge toward serpents and decided to conduct a

serpent sacrifice which would wipe out all the living

serpents.

5) Why did Ganges drown seven of her sons?

The eight vasus led by Prabhas stole the cow Kamadhenu from

Vasistha on the insistence of their wives. As a result Vasistha

cursed them to be born in the world of men. Upon appealing to

the sage, their curse was mitigated. Seven of them would die as

soon as they would be born but Prabhas would lead a long life.

As a result of the curse, Ganges drowned her seven sons .

Prabhas became Bhisma.

6) The four sons of Dasaratha were very close and

affectionate towards each other another.

Interestingly, though Lakshmana and Shathrugna

were twins, Lakshmana was more attached to Rama

and similarly Shatrugna to Bharatha. What was the

reason for this?

Kausalya and Kaikeyi gave one portion of their

divine Payasam each to Sumitra . Lakshmana was

born out of the part given by Kausalya and thus

was a part of the atma of Rama. Similarly,

Shatrugna was a part of atma of Bharatha. Hence

the special closeness between the two sets of

brothers.

ROUND 5

I AM DERIVED

1) This is a one- act play written by Bhasa which depicts

Duryodhana in good light . It violates many rules of a

drama laid down in the Natyasastra yet it is considered

to be a master piece. Its story has also been adopted by

modern theatre with modifications.

URUBHANGA

2) This play in 6 acts by Bhatta- Narayana

describes Bhima outrage at the insult meted

out to the Pandavas and the vow he takes to

dip his hand in Dushasana’s blood and then tie

Draupadi’s hair.

VENI- SAMHARA

3) The Mahabharata and Ramayana are great

epics. It is often very difficult to even read and

understand both these epics completely. But this

genius from Kashmir not only mastered both

these epics but also wrote manjaris (condensed

versions of both these epics). Name the person.

KSHEMENDRA

4) Kalidasa is known for his poems but

he was also a playwright. He wrote 2

plays based on Mahabharata which

bought him international acclaim.

Name the 2 plays.

Abhijñānaśākuntala

Vikramorvaśīya

5) This king was a polymath of medieval India, who ruled the kingdom of Malwa in central India from the early 11th century to 1055 CE. He belonged to the Paramara dynasty.

He wrote a beautiful champu of Ramayana which widely read even today. Name this king who also wrote many books on a variety of subjects including chemistry, civil engineering and law. Who is he?

BHOJA

6) X has done a television show on CNBC-TV18 with host Maneka Doshi called Business Sutra. The shows draws business lessons from Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. X is a doctor by profession but he has written a best- seller based on Mahabharata.

DEVDUTT PATTANAIK

ROUND 5

IT’S YOUR CHOICE

RULES FOR THIS ROUND• 2 questions will be displayed out of which the team is required to answer one.• Pounce is applicable only on the first question.• Second question will be displayed after the interval for pounce.

1) Name the 3 stages of Mahabharatam.

2) Identify the verse.

Jayam, Bharatham and Mahabharatham

1) List the 7 Khandas of Ramayana in order.

2) Many versions of Ramayana exist, among them this version is very popular in a particular region. The first half of this Ramayana is almost an exact rendition from Bhatti-kavya but the second half is very different from the Sanskrit version of Ramayana. Name this version of Ramayana which is famous in a small group of islands in the Pacific Ocean.

1) Bala Khanda, Ayodhya Khanda, Aranya Khanda, Kishkindha Khanda, Sundara Khanda, Yuddha Khanda And Uttara Khanda

2) JAVANESE RAMAYANA/Kakawin Ramayana

1) In which parva of the Mahabharata does the incident of “YAKSHAPRASNA” take place?

2)Few characters are common to both the epics. Sometimes the same names are used for 2 different characters in both the epics altogether. X and Y are 2 such characters. X in Mahabharata was the king of Nishada. He lost his kingdom, wife and even lost his physical form due to the influence of Lord Shani. He eventually regained everything. Y in Ramayana was a great engineer who was instrumental in constructing the Sethusamudram. ID X and Y.

1)VANA PARVA

2)NALA- The story of Nala is recited to Yudhisthira in the Vana parva of Mahabharata

1)Which Parva narrates the story of the destruction of the Yadu Kula?

2)X and Y were 2 Yadava warriors who fought on opposite sides of the Mahabharata war. X fought for the Kauravas and was also the head of the Narayana Sena. Y naturally fought for the Pandavas. In the above parva of Mahabharata, Y attacks and kills X . This results in infighting among the Yadavas and their ultimate destruction. ID X and Y.

1)Mausala Parva

2) X - Kritvarma; Y - Satyaki

1)Tulasidas composed the Ramcharitha manas in which language? Please be specific about the dialect.

2)A very popular maidan in Delhi is named after the tradition derived from Tulsidas Ramcharitamanas . This tradition takes place at this maidan every year. Name the tradition and the maidan.

1)Awadhi

2) Ramlila. Ramcharitamanas spread the popularity of Ramayana in the northern part of our country and most of the ramalilas staged today are inspired form this version of the Ramayana.

1) Explain the significance of the verse – “tapaH svaadhyaaya nirataam tapasvii

vaagvidaam varam |naaradam paripapracCha vaalmiikiH

muni pumgavam”

2)Give two reasons why the Bala Khanda and Uttara Khanda are considered to later additions to the main story of Ramayana

1) First verse of Ramayana

2) Traditional recitation of the Ramayana ends with the Rama pattabhisheka. In other 5 khandas Rama spoken of a human being, while in Bala and Uttara Khanda he is spoken as a divine incarnation.

Few inconsistencies are there between the Bala and Uttara khanda and the rest of the work.

ROUND 6RAPID FIRE

RULES FOR RAPID FIRE• 7 questions will be asked to each team. • Time limit – 45 seconds• The team can pass questions. Passed questions will be asked after the end of the seventh question.• No negatives.

TEAM 11) Who was the brother in law of the kauravas?

2) Name the grandson of lord Krishna?

3) Name Vali’s son.

4) Name a neutral king in the kurushetra war?

5) Who was the father of Jatayu?

6) Name the village from which Bharatha ruled for 14 years in place of Rama.

7) What was the original name of Ved Vyasa?

1) Jayadrath

2) Aniruddh

3) Angada

4) Rukma, the brother of Rukmani

5) Aruna, the dawn- god

6) Nandigramam

7) Krishna- Dwaipayana

TEAM 2

1) Who shot the first arrow in the kurushetra war?

2) Name the cow of Sage Vasishta?

3) Which sage was the foster father of Shakunthala?

4) Give the name which Draupadi adopted when she was working as a maid – servant in the Virata kingdom.

5) Name the wife of Indrajit.

6) Name the tribal women who devotedly served Rama in the forest and thus gained Moksham.

7)Name the consort of Shatrugna

1)Dushasana

2)Nandini

3) Sage Kanva

4) Sairandhri

5) Sulochana

6) Shabari

7)Sruthakeerthi

TEAM 3

1)Name the son born of Satyaki and sage Parasara?

2)Name the son of Abhimanyu.

3)Name the prince of Virata kingdom.

4)Name the rakshasi who had a dream about the destruction of Lanka. She was also a good companion to Sita.

5) Name the virtuous Kaurava who condemned his brothers for their behaviour towards Draupadi after the game of dice.

6)Name the conch of Arjuna.

7)Name the ruler of Trigatha

1) Ved Vyasa- the author of Ramayana

2) Parikshit

3)Uttar

4)Trijata

5) Vikarna

6) Devadatta

7) Susharma

TEAM 4

1) Which sage supervised the Putra- Kaamesthi yaaga for Dasaratha?

2) Name Prahalada’s son

3) Who was King Brihadraatha’s son?

4) Name sage Vishvamitra’s sister.

5) Who was Ekalavya’s father?

6) Name Sukracharya’s father .

7) Name vessel given to Yudhisthira by Sun- God during the beginning of the exile of the Pandavas.

1) Rishya- shringa

2) Virochana

3) Jarasandha

4) Satyavati

5) Hiranyadhanu

6) Bhrigu

7)Akshayapatra

TEAM 5

1) Name the priest who was constantly with the Pandavas during their 12 years of exile.

2) Name the father of Dronacharya.

3) Name the flower that Bhima went in search of (for Draupadi’s sake ) when the Pandavas were in exile.

4) Name Kumbhakarna’s sons.

5) Who was sage Atri’s son?

6)Name the rakshasi who guarded Lanka.

7) Name the last parva of Mahabharatha

1) Dhaumaya

2) Bharadwaja

3) Saughandika

4) Kumbha and Nikumbha

5) Durvasa

6) Lankini

7) Svargarohana parva (Ascent to heaven)

TEAM 6

1)Who was Kaikeyi’s father?

2) Name Vasishta’s son.

3)Which sage cursed Pandu that he would die if he had physical relationship with his wives?

4)Who gave Arjuna the Gandiva bow?

5)How many divisions of army fought in the great war?

6) Who killed the maximum number of warriors in the Mahabharatha war?

7) Which princess of Kashi was born again as Sikhandi to kill Bhishma?

1) Ashvapati

2) Sugayana

3) Sage Kindam

4) Lord Varuna

5)18

6) Karna

7) Amba

THANK YOU