UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 84 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Panchayatana Temple Style
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicTemple Architecture
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeDirect
With reference to the cultural history of India, the term 'Panchayatan' refers to
Show answer
Answer: C. a style of temple construction
Verdict
The answer is a style of temple construction. Panchayatana describes a temple plan with a main shrine and four subsidiary shrines.
Analysis
In the panchayatana layout, the principal deity occupies the central shrine on a raised platform and four smaller shrines stand at the four corners, making five in total, which the word itself signals. The plan appears in Gupta period temples such as the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh and continues in later Nagara architecture. The other three options attach the word to a village assembly, a sect and an official post, none of which fits an architectural term.
Source
NCERT and Centre for Cultural Resources and Training material on temple architecture.
How to crack it
Decode the number word. Pancha means five, and ayatana means shrine or abode, so the term must describe an arrangement of five sacred structures. Numerical prefixes in Indian architectural and cultural vocabulary are consistently literal, as in trikuta for a three shrined temple and navaratna. Reading the number out of the term is the fastest route through art and culture terminology, and the panchayatana plan is a repeat favourite because it links Gupta temples to the Nagara style.