UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 54 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Dhauli Rock Cut Elephant
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2015
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicIndian Architecture
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
With reference to the art and archaeological history of India, which one among the following was made earliest?
Show answer
Answer: B. Rock-cut Elephant at Dhauli
Verdict
The answer is the rock-cut elephant at Dhauli. It dates to the third century before the common era and is the earliest of the four.
Analysis
The Dhauli elephant in Odisha is carved above one of Ashoka's rock edicts and belongs to the Mauryan period, third century BCE. The Varaha image at Udayagiri belongs to the Gupta period, around the fifth century CE. The rock-cut monuments at Mahabalipuram are Pallava work of the seventh and eighth centuries CE. The Lingaraja temple at Bhubaneswar is a mature Kalinga style temple of about the eleventh century CE and is the latest of the four.
Source
NCERT, An Introduction to Indian Art Part I, page 20.
How to crack it
Order art history questions by style period rather than by individual monument. Mauryan work is third century BCE and is associated with Ashokan edict sites, Gupta work is fourth to sixth century CE, Pallava rock-cut work is seventh to eighth, and the great regional temple styles are tenth century onward. Placing each option into a period band answers any earliest or latest question. The Dhauli elephant sits beside an Ashokan edict, which dates it without any art historical knowledge at all.