QC101: An Introductory Course to Quizzing, was held from 22nd March 2021 to 26th March 2021. Agni Pariksha: A Quiz on Indian Mythology was set by Padmaja & Khushi. It was hosted on D2C on 22nd March.

2. Q1 X novel is a satirical novel written by an Indian politician, who is currently serving his
third term as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. The name of the novel roughly translates
to the poetic epic Y, which the author recasts and resets in the context of Indian
Independence Movement and post independence India. In the novel, the author describes
the story of the newly formed democracy as a struggle between groups and individuals
closely related by their personal and political histories.
In the novel, Jawaharlal Nehru , the first prime minister of independent India, often
termed as an blind idealist is showed akin to character Z from the poetic epic. Both are
also known to have turned blind eye to many issues in love of their child(ren).
ID Y and the character Z.

3. A1
Y: Mahabharata (The Great Indian Novel)
Z: Dhritarashtra

4. Q2 After the Kurukshetra war ended, on the advice of sage Ved Vyasa, the Pandavas decided
to ask Lord Shiva for forgiveness for killing their kin during the war. However, Lord Shiva,
not wanting to forgive them, turned into a bull and hid among the cattle on the hill. On
being tracked, he dived head first into the ground, but got his tail caught by one of the five
brothers. The Pandavas then built a temple there.
The portions of Lord Shiva’s body later appeared at four different places, with the head
of the bull appearing at Y. A temple was built there, the name of which translates to
“Lord of the Animals” .
Name both the temples.

5. A2
Kedarnath Temple
Pashupatinath Temple (Kathmandu)

6. Q3 Add the next one to the list:
PRAYAGRAJ HARIDWAR UJJAIN

7. A3
Nashik
During the samudra manthan, devas and asuras began to fight over the pot of elixir
(Amrit). Lord Vishnu’s eagle Garuda, took the pot and flew away. A few drops fell in
Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik where Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 12 years.

8. Q4 CONNECT:
CHITRAKOOT
DANDAKARANYA
HAMPI
RAMESHWARAM

9. A4
List of places Lord Rama visited while in exile.
Chitrakoot - Site of Bharat Milap
Dandakaranya - Site where Lakshmana cut Surpanakha's nose
Hampi (Kishkinda) - Ram and Hanuman met for the first time
Rameshwaram - A floating bridge to Lanka was built

10. Shown above is the logo of a newspaper.
The mythological creature on the left is said to have emerged from the churning of the cosmic
ocean. She is a miraculous creature and is known to provide the owner with whatever they
desire.
The mythological creature on the right is also said to have come out of the churning of ocean
milk and is believed to guard one of the points of the compass and also serves as a God’s mount.
Name them both.
Q5

11. A5
Kamdhenu
Airavat

12. Q6 What connects the following?
Raj Babbar, Ashalata, Rishabh Shukla, Kiran Juneja, Debashree Roy, Mukesh Khanna,
Sudesh Berry, Meena Chakrabarty, Menaka Babbar, Girija Shankar, Renuka Israni,
Tarakesh Chauhan, Nazneen, Virendra Razdan, Pankaj Dheer, Gajendra Chouhan,
Praveen Kumar, Firoz Khan, Roopa Ganguly, Puneet Issar, Razak Khan, Mayur Vakani,
Varsha Usgaonkar, Ayub Khan, Dharmesh Tiwari, Surendra Pal, Pradeep Rawat, Lalit
Tiwari, Nitish Bhardwaj, Goga Kapoor, Vishnu Sharma, Sheela Sharma, Manju Vyas,
Sagar Salunke, Channa Ruparel, Parijat, Pradeep Sharma, Paintal, Arun Bakshi, Sameer
Rajda, Sharat Saxena, Vikrant Mathur, Gufi Paintal, Shivendra Mahal, Dara Singh,
Satish Kaul, Rajesh Vivek, Pawan Shukla, Karunakar Pathak, Vikas Prasad, Randhir
Singh, Harish Bhimani

13. A6
Mahabharata
This is the cast of Mahabharat (1988 TV series)

14. Q7 This village is located in the Unnao District of Uttar Pradesh and residents say that it
gets its name from an individual who died there. According to Munna Lal Pandey, a former
Pradhan of the village, the 19th century British Gazetteer also spoke of a stone statue of
the individual which lay there. After his death near the bank of a lake while filling water,
a prophecy was pronounced which would go on to be true some time later.
Which individual from the world of Indian mythology supposedly died at this spot, leading to
the name of this village?

15. A7
Shravan Kumar

16. Q8 Imitation of styles has seldom been this fatal. This character from Hindu mythology learnt
it the hard way, when he went about imitating Lord Krishna , fitting himself with 2 extra
imitation arms, painting himself blue, and carrying the conch, lotus, chakra and mace as
Krishna did. Krishna got bugged and had his head off.
Who?

17. A8
Paundraka Vasudeva

18. Q9 The Matsya Puranas tells a story about the frequent wars between Devas and Asuras, in
which the Devas frequently ended up winning. Humiliated, X, the guru of Asuras decided to
approach Shiva. He, meanwhile asked Asuras to take refuge at the ashram of his father
Y.
Devas found the absence of the guru an opportune time to attack the Asuras once again.
However, Y was also away when they were attacked, hence Asuras sought his wife’s help.
Using her powers, she rendered Indra immobile, who in turn asked Lord Vishnu for help.
Lord Vishnu severed her head using his Sudarshan chakra. Enraged by his wife’s death, Y
cursed Lord Vishnu to be born on Earth several times and suffer the pain of the worldly
life.
ID X and Y,

19. A9
X - Shukracharya
Y - Sage Bhrigu

20. Q10 Nataraja is the description of Lord Shiva as the divine dancer. He is depicted standing on
silhouette of a tiny humanoid X, who is believed to be a representation of ignorance and the
disease Y.
X is destined immortality, and can’t be killed in order to ensure the knowledge in the world is
preserved. Killing him would mean attaining knowledge without any dedication and effort, thus
devaluing knowledge in all its forms. To subdue X, Lord Shiva incarnates as Sri Nataraja. He
performs the cosmic Tandava Nitraya and suppresses X under his right foot. To subdue him
forever, Lord Shiva remain in his Nataraja form for eternity.
According to Ayurveda, X also relates to a chronic neurological disorder, Y.
ID X and Y.

21. A10
X - Apasmara
Y - Epilepsy

22. Q11 Fill in the blanks
Lord Shiva : Damru
Lord Brahma : ______
Ravana : Veena/ Ravanhatha
Lord Krishna : Flute
_____ : Mahati Veena

23. A11
Lord Shiva : Damru
Lord Brahma : Mridanga
Ravana : Veena/Ravanahatha
Lord Krishna : Flute
Sage Narada : Mahati Veena

24. Q12 The award shown is India’s highest gallantry award, awarded for ‘displaying distinguished act
of valour during wartime’. On obverse, the National Emblem appears in the centre surrounded
by four copies of the weapon X.
According to Puranas, the devas were once driven out of devalok by an asura.
The asura was the recipient of a boon that any weapon made before he got t
that boon, be it of metal or wood will do him no harm. Thus, on the advice of
Lord Vishnu, a weapon was made from the spine of a sage, which was then
used to kill the asura.
It is also used in Buddhism and Jainism, often to represent firmness of spirit
and spiritual power.
ID X.

25. A12
X : Vajra

26. Q13 Wat Phra Kaew ( meaning Temple of the Emerald
Buddha) is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist
temple (wat) in Thailand. It is a "potent religio-political
symbol and the palladium (in protective sense) of Thai
society“.
The sculpture (on the left) stands as guardian of this
temple. Which mythological figure is it a representation
of?

27. A13
Ravana

28. Q14 “Once lord Shiva was going to Varanasi along with one crore god and goddesses including
him. On the way they thought of taking rest and shelter on this hill for the night. Before
going to bed Lord Shiva strictly warned them to get up at dawn before the sun rises and
leave for Varanasi. The following morning only Lord Shiva got up and nobody else woke up.
In anger Lord Shiva cursed them to become stone sculptures or images and stay there
forever. Since then there have been one less than a crore stone sculptures on the hill.”
So is the legend associated with this ancient
Shaivite place of worship with huge rock- cut
images and stone idols - It is the prime tourist
spot of Tripura. Name this place, whose literal
meaning is, one less a crore in Bengali .

29. A14
Unakoti

30. Q15 It is said that Indra once killed a demon, even if he had not caused any harm to anyone.
So he was cursed for this sin which was thought unredeemable. He was freed from being a
wanderer by the power of a Shiva lingam in a forest, which was later developed into a
temple by a Pandya King. This Pandya King was childless and so Shiva gave him darshan
and granted him boons. So was born an Ayojina girl (not from the womb), who had eyes
shaped like that of a fish.
Who are we talking about?

31. A15
Goddess
Meenakshi