5th edition of KQA's annual written quiz on Karnataka.

1. ShankarPoLi, Poli Shankara
and Kampni – 2017
QMs: Kaustuba and Lingaraj

2. • 40 questions +1 AV theme round. All written.
• Each question carries 1 point each, unless mentioned otherwise
• Part points given at QM’s discretion.

3. 1
B.L. Rice’s 19th century Gazetteer of Mysore throws light on the
probable origins of the names of these two places in Karnataka.
One of them is a district, the other a locality within Bangalore with
a popular urban legend about its etymology.
Both these places, as per the gazetteer, derive their names from the
single petal flower known as Thumbe Hoovu (leucas indica), that
used to be found in these regions.
Name the two places

4. • Tumkur – old name Tumbeguru/Tummeguru.
• Domlur – old name Tumbaluru.
Answer

5. 2
Name the 1964 movie (clue pic below) whose titular character’s existence has been questioned
by prominent Kannada historians like N.S. Rangaraju and the late Kalburgi on account of lack
of any credible evidence.

6. Answer
• Amarashilpi Jakanachari – believed to have been the artist behind
many of the sculptures in Hoysala temples

7. 3 The Tamil film Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum, a landmark movie for South Indian
film Industry for being the first full length colour feature film in any South Indian
language, has a Karnataka connection. The outdoor shoots for the movie took place
largely in Mysore. This is because the movie depended on Mysore Reserve Police for
something very specific that was integral to its story. What?

8. Answer
• Mysore Reserve Police had a Mounted police division that
inherited a large number of horses from the Mysore Wodeyar’s
royal stables.
• The mounted police still exists, albeit less active today

9. 4
Pictured is a Padma Shri award winning theater actor well known for
portraying villainous characters like Duryodhana, Raavana, Khamsa etc.
The actor also founded the _____ Nataka Mandali (pic 2) in 1958, the first of
it’s kind in Karnataka.
Name the actor and the troupe

11. Answer
• R Nagarathnamma
• Stree Nataka Mandali (all actors in
the picture are women)

12. 5 Pranay Lal’s popular science book “Indica: A Deep Natural History of the
Indian Subcontinent” begins with the below account
“Drive out of X for about 70 kilometres and you will arrive at the 1479-metre-
high Y Hills belonging to a family of rocks called the Z Craton that was
formed about 3.5 billion years ago.”
“A craton is that part of Earth’s crust that has remained largely unchanged for
billions of years. [Thus] Y Hills is among the oldest rocks in India and it is
literally a part of the very bedrock on which the country stands!”
“Also, the age of the Z Craton makes India one of the oldest land masses in the
world. Only Australia, Greenland and South Africa have rocks that are older
than those found here.”
Name i) X city ii)Y Hills iii) Z Craton (so named because the earliest
evidence of the craton formation was found in Z district in North Karnataka)

13. Answer
• X – Bangalore
• Y – Nandi Hills
• Z – Dharwar Craton
• (The hills in Lalbagh also belong to the same family)

14. 6.He started his career working on Ravichandran
movies like Naanu Nanna Hendthi and Prema Loka.
His first major Bollywood gig was the 1990 multi-
starrer “Hum” where his choreography for the song
Jumma Chumma De De won him his first Filmfare
award. One of his more recent works has been on
the song Lungi Dance from Chennai Express.
In the mid 90s he helped turn Akshay Kumar’s
career around with hits like Tu Cheez Badi Hai
Mast and Churake Dil Mera, at a time when other
contemporary choreographers like Saroj Khan
dismissed him as a stuntman unfit to dance and
refused to work with him.
His wife is also a frequent collaborator on his
projects. They won a national Award in 2008 for
Jodha Akbar.
Name this husband-wife choreographer duo from
namma Karnataka.

16. • Chinni Prakash and Rekha Prakash

17. 7) Identify these entrepreneurs and the Bangalore based start-ups they founded.
3 pointer (1/2 + 1/2) x 3

18. Answer
• Rashmi Daga – Fresh Menu
• Shubhra Chadda - Chumbak
• Richa Kar - Zivame

19. In an article published in 2002, Jyotsna Kamat recounts the efforts and contributions of Xs in
philanthropic deeds throughout history in Karnataka.
She highlights two such instances – i) the Shantisagara lake in Davanagere, and ii) the Mahakuta
group of temples in Bagalkote.
The legend of the lake has been bolstered by Basava’s Siddhalinga Kavya that talks about a 10th
century woman named Mahibhadra who donated large amounts of wealth for building an irrigation
tank in present day Channagiri in Davanagere.
Donations to Mahakuta temple, on the other hand, has been acknowledged in an inscription within
the temple.
William Darlymple, in his book, Nine Lives, also highlights a similar effort by the Xs in aiding the
construction of the famed Virupaksha temple. This donation is also acknowledged in an inscription.
• Who are Xs?
8

20. Answer
• Devadasis
• Shantisagara is more commonly known as Sule Kere. As per the
article, until about 18th century, sule was used as an honorific to
refer to Devadasis

21. • Cartoons showing a popular husband & wife pair from Kannada literature. The
husband, apart from being a photographer and writer himself, has been the
subject of many a humorous short stories written by the wife, who is also an AIR
broadcaster, and historian.
• Today, the couple is known for a popular blog they started that calls itself a
“Hodge-podge of History, Mystery and, Diversity of India (and lots of pictures)”
• Name the blog
• For bonus points name cartoonist
9

23. • Kamat’s Potpourri started by by Krishnanand Kamat, Jyotsna
Kamat.
• Cartoonist - Hublikar

24. 10
Around mid 90s, this agricultural town in Karnataka found another
use for its crop and has since turned into a prime exporter of an
oleoresin (a naturally occurring oil extracted from plants) that is
used in the preparation of lipsticks and nail polish as a colouring
agent.
This also led to the boom of cold storage industry in the town as
cold storage helps preserve the natural colour and also increases the
amount of oleoresin extracted from the crop.
Both in the crop’s use as well as the way it is treated and preserved
after harvest, it is a far cry from what it is primarily known for.
• Name the town/crop

25. Answer
• Byadagi/Byadagi chillies

26. 11
• Identify the singer/ activist who was awarded the Padma Shri this year.
Name the community she belongs to?

27. • Sukrajji aka Sukri Bommegowda
• Halakki community of Ankola

28. • Places like Masti/Mastigudi get their name from stone tablets
such as these, erected to honour specific acts of sacrifice. Explain
the etymology
12

29. Answer
• The stone tablet is called Mastigallu. These are erected to honour
a Maha Sati. Masti is a shortened corruption of Mahasati.

30. 13
• In August 2016, nearly 20 years after the original “event” took
place, an excerpt of it was uploaded on YouTube. Such was the
event’s popularity and so rare was finding a footage of it that the
video garnered more than half a million views within four days of
being uploaded. And most comments on it read like a nostalgia
trip with each person identifying exactly what they were doing on
that day.
• What video/event?

31. Answer
• Srinath and Kumble taking India home against Australia in the
Titan Cup match held in Bangalore.
• (When last checked, the youtube account that uploaded this video
had been terminated.)

32. 14
X : Native of Belur. Son of Krishnamachar. Given name – Sundararaja.
Y : Native of Bukkasagara. Son of Krishnayya. Given name – Srinivas.
• How do we better know X and Y

33. • BKS Iyengar
• BKS Varma
Answer

34. 15
A) __________ is a Kannada writer of novels and short stories from Kasargod.
Her books usually relate the plight of Muslim women in Kerala and Karnataka.
Her most famous novel, Chandragiriya Theeradalli (1984), was adapted into a National Award
winning movie in 2011 (the first in a particular language), albeit without her consent, creating quite
a stir.
Name the writer and the movie.
B) ________ is also a well-known Kannada writer and a social activist from Hassan that writes on
topics concerning Muslim women.
Her short story Kari Nagaragalu was adapted as _______ in 2005 starring Tara in the titular role,
which also earned her a national award.
Again, name the writer and the movie.
2 pointer = (1/2 + 1/2) x2

35. Answer
• B) Banu Mushtaq. Hasina• A) Sara Aboobacker. Byari

36. 16
A graphic designer by
profession, his other
passion is caricature. But
what brought him
recognition was a hurried
work of half finished art
done for a youth
organization in his
hometown of Kasargod
that’s become ubiquitous
in Bangalore now.
• What did he create for
them?

37. • “Angry Hanuman”
• Artist – Karan Acharya
Answer

38. 17
• What was installed at its present bastion in Bijapur by one Pandit
Murari, a general under Adil Shah with the aid of 10 elephants and
400 oxens after capturing it as a war trophy from Ahmednagar in
early 17th century?

39. • The famed canon, Malik-e-Maidan

40. • What is this a map of? What town in Karnataka that helped
answer a long standing question has been blanked out?
18

42. • Map of Ashokan edicts
• Maski in Raichur – the
first edict to contain the
name “Ashoka”, all
previous discoveries
had him known by the
names Devanampiya
and Piyadasi
Answer

43. 19
• Excerpts from architect Charles Correa’s memoir, A Place in the Shade, where he
talks about his work on what was then just called “new town” in Bagalkote.
“This town will have 100,000 inhabitants – some are new migrants and some are
families displaced by X. We based all designs on traditional typologies so that
families can recycle their existing doors, windows, balconies which the government is
helping them salvage from their old homes.
There are 49 sectors in all, arranged in a pattern of concentric rings – with the town
center in the innermost one. In this, I was much influenced by Y, an ancient temple
town consisting of seven concentric rectangles – of which ancient temples occupy the
innermost three.”
i) Name the township
ii) What were the families displaced by? (X)
iii) What is the temple town being spoken about? (Y) Images next slides

44. • Township map

45. • Temple Town Map

46. Answer
i) Navanagar
ii) Displaced after the height of Almatti Dam was raised in the 1980s
iii) Srirangam, near Trichy, Tamil Nadu

47. 20
• The _____ system was first introduced in Mysore by G P. Sanderson
in 1873 at Kardihalli. The venue of such events was the Kakanakote
forest on the banks of the Kabini River. This used to be organized at
frequent intervals, usually coinciding with the visit of a dignitary to
the state. It was discontinued in 1973 following the enactment of a
law.
• What is being talked about that, curiously enough, derives its name
from an earlier less effective system used for the same purpose that
it replaced?

48. Answer
• Khedda – the pen and stockade
system of trapping wild
elephants
• Name derived from Hindi word
for ditches, which was the earlier
method of capturing elephants.
• Similar systems like Khedda was
in use throughout India, but
Nort East and Karnataka were
the more prominent examples
specifically used for capturing
elephants.

49. 21
Who was the lead pair in the following 60s Kannada movies?
(Exhaustive List)
• Chinnada Gombe
• Mane Aliya
• Mavana Magalu
• Nanna Kartavya
(No part points)

50. Answer
• Jayalalitha and Kalyan Kumar

51. 22
• A “burning” issue in Karnataka finds its origins in the Kannada Sahitya
Sammelana held in Manipal in 1961.
• The president of the sammelana, A.N. Krishna Rao (AaNaKru) spoke
about it in his official address calling this practice detrimental to
Kannada language and culture. His proposal to tackle it was included
as one of the seven resolutions of the meet and has snowballed into a
major movement today.
• To this day, the Kannada Sahitya Parishat backs this movement that
has caused frequent frictions with the neighboring states.
• What issue?

52. Answer
• Anti dubbing - Opposition to dubbing of
Tamil/Telugu/Malayalam movies into Kannada.
• (Recently, arson threats were issued to Karnataka theaters
screening dubbed version of Ajith starrer Satyadev IPS.)

53. 23
• Two main features of architect Anil
Bhaskaran’s designs for office buildings
are -i)less use of glass, and ii) inspiration
from nature and surroundings
• This building, Infosys Mangala in
Mangalore, for example, is influenced by
the step farming technique apparently
practiced in coastal Karnataka.
• A prominent Bangalore building designed
by Anil also has similar design principles.
Unlike other buildings in its vicinity, it has
minimal glass surface and its shape,
resembling a wave, is inspired by the fact
that “there are no straight lines in nature”
• What building?

54. Answer
• Jal Bhavan on Bannerghatta Road.

55. 24
This chapel is now named
after a missionary of the
London Missionary Society
who was also a Kannada
scholar and a pioneer of
education in the Bangalore
Pete region.
Name the church and the
street on which it stands.

56. Answer
• Rice Memorial Church
• Avenue Road

57. 25
• This idol in Dodda Malloor,
Chennapatna taluk is believed to be the
only idol of Krishna in this pose. One of
the most popular Purandaradasa Kriti
was apparently composed in appreciation
of its beauty.
• It is popular among issueless couples
who believe if they pray here, they will be
blessed with a child
• Name the kriti/ composition that has
been immortalized by the renditions of
stalwarts likes of M S Subbulakshmi and
Balamuralikrishna ?
• Although the idol has names like
Aprameyan and Navaneetha Krishna,
what name is it more popularly known
by?

58. Answer
• "Jagadodharana Adisidale Yasode“
• Ambegaalu Krishna

59. 26
Shankar Nag reprising the role
played by Rajkumar in a 1960
National Award Winning
Kannada film for a 1988
docudrama directed by Girish
Karnad. The 1960 film holds the
distinction of being the 100th
Kannada film. Name the character
played by Shankar Nag or the 1960
film.

60. Answer
• Bhakta Kanakadasa

61. 27
Speaking about a 1996 autobiography of a Kannada poet, late Kannada literary critic
D R Nagaraj felt, the work resounded with “poor man’s laughter”. It has been hailed
as one of the most significant autobiographical writings to be published in Kannada
and was translated into English recently as A Word With You, World: The
Autobiography of a Poet.
The Kannada title of this two part autobiography translates to “Neighbourhood”.
Name the autobiography and the poet.

62. Answer
• Siddalingaiah
• Ooru Keri

63. 28
This panel from a 11 century Hoysala temple in
Tarikere taluk is depicting an episode from
Indian mythology thats believed to have
happened on the seventh day of the dark
fortnight in the month of Bhadrapada. This
episode is also the source of a very popular
Kannada proverb.
A newspaper article on the temple once described
it as “amarchitrakatha on stone” for the rich
details from the Indian puranas in the panels in
the outer praakara of the temple.
i) Identify the temple
ii) Name the Kannada proverb
iii) Who is the mythological character
prostrating in the picture?

64. Answer
• Amrutheshwara temple
• Karyavasi katte kaalu hidi
• Vasudeva – As per a version of Mahabharata, every night during the
birth of a child to Vasudeva and Devaki, a donkey would bray loudly
thus alerting Khamsa. On the eve of Krishna’s birth, Vasudeva pleads
with the donkey to stay quiet.

65. 29
In 1951, the tenants of a village in Sagara taluk,Shimoga protested, among other things, against
the unjust measure used by landlords to calculate rent paid in kind. This was the first
movement of its kind in post independent India. Initially the movement was restricted to
tenants, from lower-caste Deewar community. Later the movement was backed by the
socialist party and attracted supporters from many student bodies all over the state.
Among the many students involved in this event, as many as four went on to become chief
ministers of Karnataka. Identify the village.

66. Answer
• Kagodu

67. 30
Who? And why is Cyprus
honoring an Indian soldier ?

68. Answer
• General K.S. Thimayya
• He died on active duty as Commander of UN Peace Keeping Force in
Cyprus

69. 31
Screenshot from a films division
documentary on a remarkable
Kannadiga showing his footprints
across India. Name him.

70. Answer
• Sir M Vishweshwariah
• (pic shows his contribution to water supply schemes for various towns
in India)

71. 32
• Historians, geologists and archeologists have long pondered about the
plausible factors culminating in this “ecological disaster”. Among the
reasons cited for it is a Vijayanagar era dam and an active fault line
around the region. Folk traditions attribute it to another reason. What
“ecological disaster”?

72. Answer
• Sand in Talakadu

73. 33 God ___ ____ with Gora
drove cattle with Chokha.
cut grass with Samvata,
wove garments with Kabir,
coloured hide with Ravidas
sold meat with the butcher
Sajana,
melted gold with Narahari,
carried cow-dung with
Janabai,
and even became the Mahar
messenger of Damaji
-- Translation of Ekanath’s poem

74. Answer
• Baked Pots
• Bhakta Kumbara is based on Gora’s life.

75. 34
A 1799 Pen-and-ink and water-
colour drawing of the
"Kankanhalli River" by Elisha
Trapaud. Identify the river that's
much abused due to
anthropogenic activities.

76. Answer
• Arkavati River (Kankanhalli is now known as Kanakapura)

77. 35
• In 2014, Karnataka government banned a book by K.S.
Narayanacharya, on the grounds that it contains material that hurts the
sentiments of a community. Citing the reasons for the banning this
work a minister opined that the author had “hijacked” the icon of a
community and created a divide in society. The government then set up
a 14 member committee headed by Prof. Ham Pa Nagarajaiah to
determine the caste of of “Ratnakara” the subject of the banned book.
How do we better know Ratnakara?

78. Answer
• Valmiki (Book : Valmiki Yaaru)

79. 36
The [X] [Y] festival was started in the year 1997 by an ex-employee of State
Bank of India who was associated with [Y] in some form. The idea was initially
conceived as a platform in which the different [X] families can get together.
Realizing common passion of [Y] among [X]s, it was decided that a [Y] festival
would be a good event to bring the families together.
Each year the festival is organised by a different family and the name of the
family is given to the event. The organising family is mainly responsible for
arranging the finances and infrastructure needed for the festival, which is then
recovered from the sponsors.
This unique festival was also the subject of a 2015 documentary by Sandhya
Kumar.
What festival?

80. Answer
• Kodava Hockey Festival founded by Pandanda Kuttappa
(2015 documentary being Hockey in My Blood)

81. 37
• Who is being awarded with a Karnataka Sahitya Akademi award in
which category for what work?

83. Answer
• Srinath Perur
• Translation of a Kannada novel to English
• Gachar Gochar

84. 38
• At the 2004 Athens Olympics, in the last of the Women’s Heptathlon
events, the 800m race, this Indian athlete put up a stellar performance
to loud cheers and standing ovation from the crowd to finish third in a
time quite close to her personal best.
• But at the end of the race the scoreboard in the stadium only flashed
DNS (did not start) against her name. Why did this happen? Who is the
athlete?

85. Answer
• Dharwad born athlete J.J.Shobha
• While competing in Javelin throw, the
penultimate event of the heptathlon,
Shobha had injured her leg. The official
doctors, after examining her, had ruled
her out of competition saying she
wouldn’t walk for a week. Hence
nobody expected her to start the 800m
event.

86. 39.
Popular Kannada villains, Vasishta Simha and Madhu, dubbing for a movie they were
not originally a part of. What movie?

87. Dubbing for Anil and Uday in Mastigudi

88. 40 A Bangalore road was originally named (A) to
commemorate the visit of this English prince
to the city in 1889. During this visit, the prince
also laid the foundation of an iconic Bangalore
structure (B) that bore his name for over 50
years.
Post independence, the road was renamed to
honor an illustrious Kannadiga from
Bijapur(C).
BBMP now plans to rename the road to (D)
again that has Kannada activists up in arms.
Identify all (1/2 x 4).
Writer (C) was chosen for a very specific
reason. What reason? (1)

89. Answer
• A – Albert Victor
• B - Glasshouse Lalbagh
• C – Alur Venkat Rao
• D – Tipu Sultan
• Same initials “A.V” shared by Albert Victor and Alur Venkatrao. The
road is sometimes referred to as just “A.V. Road.”

90. Stage - 2
• 6 clues
• All connected to a common theme
• Points for theme crack decreases from +6 through to +1
• No negatives – maximum of two shots at the theme per team.

91. a) +6 points

92. b) + 5 points

93. c) +4 points

94. d) + 3 points

95. e) +2 points

96. f) +1 point

98. Answer
• H.Y. Sharada Prasad, media advisor to Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai and
Rajiv Gandhi
Explanations follow…

99. His father was the noted Carnatic composer H Yoganarasimhan (song 1). Indian Ocean’s Rahul Ram(song 2) is his
nephew. HYSP himself had a great knowledge of classical music. He also led a campaign to have M.S. Subbulakshmi
awarded the Bharat Ratna.
The Kannada song Tandanu heard in the question was something Rahul Ram picked up as a child from his aunts
and his grandmother, Sharada Prasad’s mother, Rajam Saraswathi. She was an educationist, actively involved with
Makkala Koota in Bangalore and also founded its Mysore Chapter. Prasad was closely associated with the institution
since his childhood.
Later in life, he spearheaded the efforts in the establishment of The Indian Institute of Mass Communication and
The National Institute of Design.
He wrote Kannada translation of R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends and English translation of Shivram Karanth’s
autobiography Huchchu Manasina Hattu Mukhagalu.
But he is mostly remembered for his career in the PMO serving a string of Indian Prime Ministers as a media
advisor.

100. ಅಷ್ಟೇ-ಅಷ್ಟೇ