Which of the following is wrongly matched ?

Correct — option (2), Mallinathji – Gagron.

The stem asks for the wrongly matched pair. Three pairs join a folk deity to his own village; one does not.

Ramdevji – Ramdevra is right. The Barmer District Gazetteer (1962) says Ramdeoji 'belonged to the village of Ramdeora (Runecha) near Pokran in Jaisalmer District.'

Tejaji – Kharnal is right. The Nagaur District Gazetteer (1975) says 'Teja was a Jat of Kharnal' who died of a snake-bite after a fight with cattle-lifting Mers.

Pabuji – Kolu is right. John D. Smith, author of The Epic of Pabuji (1991), writes that Pabuji lived in the desert village of Kolu, which has the only well-known conventional temples to him.

Mallinathji – Gagron is wrong. The Barmer gazetteer places Mallinath's temple at Tilwara, on the Luni near Balotra, where a big fair is held every year in his honour.

Gagron, per the Imperial Gazetteer (1908), is a fort at the junction of the Ahu and Kali Sind rivers near Jhalrapatan. The wrongly matched pair is option (2), Mallinathji – Gagron.

The idea to remember: Ramdev–Ramdevra (Runicha), Teja–Kharnal, Pabu–Kolu, Mallinath–Tilwara.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Ramdevji – Ramdevra — This pair is correct, so it cannot be the wrongly matched one. The Barmer gazetteer says Ramdeoji belonged to Ramdeora (Runecha) near Pokran.

  Rajasthan Tourism places the Ramdevra temple 12 km from Pokhran on the Jodhpur–Jaisalmer route and says it marks Baba Ramdevji's eternal resting place. Ramdevji – Ramdevra would be an answer to a question asking for a correctly matched pair.

• (3)
  Tejaji – Kharnal — This pair is correct. The Nagaur gazetteer calls Teja a Jat of Kharnal, 16 km west of Mundwa, and says the Parvatsar cattle fair is held every year in memory of his death.

  So Kharnal is Tejaji's village, while Parvatsar is where the fair in his memory is held. Tejaji – Kharnal would be an answer to a question asking for a correctly matched pair.

• (4)
  Pabuji – Kolu — This pair is correct. John D. Smith writes that Pabuji, a Rathore Rajput prince, lived in the desert village of Kolu, where the only well-known conventional temples to him stand.

  His epic is sung by bhopos, singer-priests who typically perform before a painted cloth, the par. Pabuji – Kolu would be an answer to a question asking for a correctly matched pair.

All four figures in the options are revered in Rajasthan as folk deities. The Nagaur District Gazetteer (1975) records that most Jats there wore a silver charm showing Ramdeoji, Pabuji or Tejaji on horseback.

The Barmer gazetteer calls Mallinath the famous Rathor chief of Mallani. It says he died in 1399 and was the first chief of the area to take the title of Rawal, and that legend credits him with divine powers.

Smith notes that the earliest known version of Pabuji's story is in the Khyat of Munhata Nainsi, who flourished in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Key facts

• Barmer District Gazetteer (1962): Ramdeoji belonged to the village of Ramdeora (Runecha) near Pokran.
• Nagaur District Gazetteer (1975): Teja was a Jat of Kharnal, 16 km west of Mundwa; the Parvatsar cattle fair is held yearly in memory of his death.
• John D. Smith: Pabuji lived in the desert village of Kolu, which has the only well-known conventional temples to him.
• Barmer District Gazetteer: a temple to Mallinath stands at Tilwara on the right bank of the Luni near Balotra; Mallinath died in 1399.
• Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908): Gagron is a fort and village at the junction of the Ahu and Kali Sind rivers.

Common traps

• Reading 'wrongly matched' as 'correctly matched': three pairs here are right, and the answer is the one pair that is not.
• Placing Mallinath at a famous fort because he was a ruler: the Barmer gazetteer calls him the Rathor chief of Mallani and puts his temple at Tilwara.
• Confusing a deity's village with his fair site: Tejaji was of Kharnal, but the cattle fair in his memory is held at Parvatsar.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Barmer District Gazetteer, at which place is a big fair held every year in honour of Mallinathji?

  • (a)Tilwara
  • (b)Parbatsar
  • (c)Ramdevra
  • (d)Kolu
  Answer(1) — The Barmer gazetteer says Mallinathji is worshipped at Tilwara, where a big fair is held every year in his honour. Option (2) hosts the cattle fair in memory of Tejaji, option (3) marks Baba Ramdevji's resting place, and option (4) is Pabuji's village.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  The village of Kharnal is associated with which folk deity?

  • (a)Pabuji
  • (b)Tejaji
  • (c)Ramdevji
  • (d)Mallinathji
  Answer(2) — The Nagaur gazetteer calls Teja a Jat of Kharnal. Option (1) is linked with Kolu, option (3) with Ramdevra, and option (4) with Tilwara.