SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 18 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 23 of 98

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Harivarasanam award is given in the field of music by which of the following state governments?

(a)Maharashtra
(b)Kerala
(c)Himachal Pradesh
(d)Karnataka

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The Harivarasanam Award is a Kerala government honour in the field of music.

It is named after 'Harivarasanam', the devotional lullaby sung at Sabarimala as the sanctum is closed for the night, and Sabarimala stands in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district. The award follows the shrine, and the shrine fixes the state — option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Maharashtra — Maharashtra's music honours belong to the Hindustani tradition of Pune and Mumbai. Harivarasanam is a Malayalam devotional song tied to a Kerala temple.
(c)
Himachal Pradesh — Himachal Pradesh has no link to Sabarimala or to this song. The award is named for a hymn from a Kerala shrine, and it is conferred where that shrine stands.
(d)
Karnataka — Karnataka tempts because Ayyappa devotion and Carnatic music are strong there too, but the Harivarasanam Award is instituted by Kerala.

Concept

Cultural awards in General Awareness are state-matching questions, and the reliable route is to trace the place the award is named after.

'Harivarasanam' is the hymn sung at the close of each day's worship at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, and its best-known rendition is by the playback singer K. J. Yesudas. The award carrying that name is given by Kerala for contribution to music, in connection with the temple's pilgrimage season.

Name to place to state is the whole method for these items.

The stem gives you two clues that agree: the field is music and the name is a Malayalam devotional song. Either one alone points at Kerala.

Key facts

The Harivarasanam Award is conferred by the Government of Kerala in the field of music.
'Harivarasanam' is the devotional song sung as the Sabarimala temple closes each night.
Sabarimala is in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
The song's best-known rendition is by the singer K. J. Yesudas.

Study next

State government awards in the arts and the states that confer themKerala's temple festivals and their musical traditionsSopana Sangeetham and other devotional music forms of Kerala

Common traps

Guessing Karnataka on the assumption that Carnatic music means Karnataka.
Reading a Sanskrit-sounding award name as a north Indian honour.
Treating every temple-linked award as a central government award.

SSC's culture items are state-matching in disguise — Padayani is matched to Kerala on 18 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.6, and Kathakali to Kerala on 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.2.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.