GS1 Art & Culture PYQ 2013–2025 | UPSC Previous Year Questions | Legacy IAS Academy
Overview
This file covers all GS1 Art & Culture PYQs from 2013 to 2025. The UPSC syllabus mandates coverage of “salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature, and Architecture from ancient to modern times.” Questions are grouped thematically to reflect how preparation and revision should be organised — not by year.
Across 13 years, 33 questions fall within Art & Culture scope. Architecture dominates, accounting for 36% of all questions, followed by Bhakti-Sufi traditions, Sculpture, and Literature. Dance and Music is structurally under-tested — a potential surprise zone.
Syllabus Map
Click each theme to expand. Question counts alongside each sub-theme.
Art & Culture → Salient Aspects of Art Forms → Architecture (Temple, Rock-cut, Stupa, Dynastic)
202510 marks150 words
Discuss the salient features of the Harappan architecture.
Pre-Vedic / Indus Valley urban planning and building features — ancient architecture per syllabus.
202510 marks150 words
‘The sculptors filled the Chandella artform with resilient vigor and breadth of life.’ Elucidate.
Chandella dynastic art tradition — temple sculpture and architecture aesthetics.
202415 marks250 words
Though the great Cholas are no more yet their name is still remembered with great pride because of their highest achievements in the domain of art and architecture. Comment.
Chola dynastic architecture — a recurring high-yield area of salient aspects of art forms.
202215 marks250 words
Discuss the main contributions of Gupta period and Chola period to Indian heritage and culture.
Dynastic contributions — Gupta and Chola are among the most significant periods for art and architecture.
202015 marks250 words
The rock-cut architecture represents one of the most important sources of our knowledge of early Indian art and history. Discuss.
Rock-cut architecture as a salient aspect of ancient art forms — direct syllabus match.
202015 marks250 words
Indian Philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss.
Philosophy’s role in shaping monuments — salient aspects of art tradition from ancient to modern.
201615 marks250 words
Krishnadeva Raya, the King of Vijayanagar, was not only an accomplished scholar himself but was also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss.
Vijayanagara dynastic patronage of art and literature — southern art tradition.
Also: Literature
201615 marks250 words
Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives, successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.
Buddhist stupa-art — an important sub-domain of ancient Indian art forms and architecture.
201515 marks250 words
Mesolithic rock-cut architecture of India not only reflects the cultural life of the times but also has a fine aesthetic sense comparable to modern painting. Critically evaluate this comment.
Mesolithic rock-cut art — salient aspects of art forms from ancient times with aesthetic significance.
201415 marks250 words
To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to present-day urbanization? Discuss.
Indus Valley urban planning — pre-Vedic architectural heritage with contemporary relevance.
201310 marks150 words
Chola architecture represents a high watermark in the evolution of temple architecture. Discuss.
Chola temple architecture — salient aspects of architecture from ancient/medieval times.
202210 marks150 words
How will you explain that medieval Indian temple sculptures represent the social life of those days?
Temple sculpture as a reflection of social life — salient aspects of art forms from medieval times.
Art & Culture → Salient Aspects of Literature (Ancient to Modern)
202410 marks150 words
Estimate the contribution of Pallavas of Kanchi for the development of art and literature of South India.
Pallava contribution to literature and art — salient aspects of literature from ancient South Indian dynasties.
Also: Architecture
202010 marks150 words
The Pala period is the most significant phase in the history of Buddhism in India. Enumerate.
Pala period — dynastic literary and cultural heritage closely linked to Buddhism’s Indian history.
202010 marks150 words
Persian literary sources of medieval India reflect the spirit of the age. Comment.
Persian literature as medieval literary source — salient aspects of literature from the medieval period.
201310 marks150 words
Though not very useful from the point of view of a connected political history of South India, the Sangam literature portrays the social and economic conditions of its time with remarkable vividness. Comment.
Sangam literature — salient aspects of ancient South Indian literary tradition.
Art & Culture → Bhakti-Sufi Movements, Vedic Religion & Cultural Synthesis
202510 marks150 words
Examine the main aspects of Akbar’s religious syncretism.
Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi and religious syncretism — closely linked to the Bhakti-Sufi tradition of synthesis and tolerance in medieval India.
202310 marks150 words
What are the main features of Vedic society and religion? Do you think some of the features are still prevailing in Indian society?
Vedic society and religion — salient aspects of ancient culture with continuity to the present.
202115 marks250 words
Evaluate the nature of the Bhakti Movement and its contribution to Indian culture.
Bhakti movement — salient cultural contribution spanning art forms and social traditions from medieval times.
201810 marks150 words
The Bhakti literature received a remarkable re-orientation with the advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Discuss.
Bhakti literature — salient aspects of medieval literary and cultural tradition shaped by the Bhakti movement.
Also: Literature
201410 marks150 words
Sufis and medieval mystic saints failed to modify either the religious ideas and practices or the outward structure of Hindu/Muslim societies to any appreciable extent. Comment.
Sufi movement — impact on medieval religious practice and social structure, a key theme in cultural synthesis.
Art & Culture → Heritage Preservation, Cultural Continuity, Symbols & Motifs
202210 marks150 words
Discuss the significance of the lion and bull figures in Indian mythology, art, and architecture.
Symbolic motifs in art and architecture — salient aspects spanning ancient to medieval periods.
201810 marks150 words
Safeguarding the Indian Art Heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss.
Heritage protection — preservation of salient aspects of art forms discussed in syllabus.
201810 marks150 words
Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese and Arab Travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India.
Foreign traveller accounts (Fa-Hien, Al-Biruni, Ibn Battuta) — historical sources for reconstructing ancient and medieval Indian art and culture.
201510 marks150 words
The ancient civilization in the Indian sub-continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without a breakdown to the present day. Comment.
Cultural continuity from ancient times — a defining feature of Indian civilization and a core syllabus theme.
201415 marks250 words
Taxila university was one of the oldest universities in the world which was associated with a number of renowned learned personalities of different disciplines. Its strategic location caused its fame to flourish, but unlike Nalanda, it is not considered a university in the modern sense. Discuss.
Taxila as ancient knowledge centre — salient aspect of ancient Indian cultural and educational heritage.
Golden Rule: Architecture has appeared in 10 out of 13 years. If you prepare only one Art & Culture theme deeply, make it Architecture — and within it, prioritise Chola, Gupta, Buddhist, and Harappan traditions.
High-Yield Themes
Architecture (12 PYQs) is by far the most-tested area. Chola temple art has appeared in 2013 and 2024 — a 10-year gap suggests it could return. Harappan and Chandella architecture both appeared in 2025 after a long absence, signalling a return to pre-Vedic and lesser-covered dynastic traditions. The Gupta period features both in Architecture (Gupta-Chola joint question 2022) and Sculpture (numismatic art 2017). Bhakti-Sufi (5 PYQs) has appeared with remarkable regularity and 2025 introduced a new angle — Akbar’s religious syncretism — widening this theme beyond the standard Bhakti-Sufi binary.
Year-on-Year Pattern
The paper consistently allocates 1–4 Art & Culture questions per year. Years 2014 and 2020 had the highest density (4 each). 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 had only 1 Art & Culture question — suggesting these were “lean” years where History took precedence. This alternating pattern implies 2026 could be a fuller Art & Culture year.
Recurring Directive Verbs
Discuss (12 occurrences), Comment (7), Elucidate (4), Explain (2), Evaluate (2), Examine (1), Critically evaluate (1), Estimate (1). The majority of 150-word questions use Discuss or Comment. 250-word questions tend toward Discuss, Elucidate, or Evaluate. Preparation tip: For every major sub-theme, practice one 150-word “Comment” answer and one 250-word “Discuss” answer.
Under-tested Zones (Syllabus Gaps)
Dance & Music has had only 1 question in 13 years (Tandava, 2013). Classical dance forms — Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Odissi, Sattriya — have never been directly tested. This is a high-risk, high-reward preparation gap. Symbols and iconography outside lion/bull (2022) — such as Nataraja iconography, Ashoka’s emblems, or temple iconographic programmes — have not been tested. Similarly, Prehistoric art beyond rock-cut architecture (Bhimbetka, cave paintings) and Folk and tribal art traditions (Madhubani, Warli, Pattachitra) are conspicuously absent despite syllabus coverage of art “from ancient to modern times.”
2025 Signal
Three Art & Culture questions in 2025 (same as 2013 and 2022) with a clear pattern: one pre-Vedic/Harappan, one medieval dynastic (Chandella), one Bhakti-adjacent (Akbar’s syncretism). This spread across chronological periods is deliberate — prepare at least one question from each era: Pre-Vedic → Vedic → Ancient Classical → Medieval → Early Modern.
