SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 19 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 10 of 100

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.

Navratri festival is dedicated to which of the following Goddesses?

(a)Laxmi
(b)Jawala
(c)Saraswati
(d)Durga

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Navratri means nine nights, and those nine nights are given to Durga in her nine forms, the Navadurga. The tenth day is Vijayadashami.

The festival occurs more than once in the year — Chaitra Navratri in spring and Sharad Navratri in autumn — but the presiding goddess does not change.

Its central story is Durga's nine-night battle with the buffalo demon Mahishasura, which is why the tenth day is a day of victory.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Laxmi — Lakshmi is worshipped chiefly at Diwali, a separate festival of the same season. Proximity in the calendar is what makes this option tempting.
(b)
Jawala — Jwala Devi, worshipped at the Jwalamukhi shrine in Himachal Pradesh, is a regional manifestation of the goddess rather than the deity the festival as a whole is dedicated to.
(c)
Saraswati — Saraswati has her own day in Vasant Panchami. She is honoured within the Navratri and Durga Puja rites as part of Durga's household, but the festival is not addressed to her.

Concept

The same nine nights carry different names and forms across India, which is why SSC can ask the festival from several directions.

In Bengal the last days are Durga Puja; in Gujarat the nights are danced as Garba and dandiya; in Tamil Nadu households arrange the Golu display of dolls; in the north the Ramlila cycle runs alongside and closes with Dussehra.

The deity is constant even where the observance is not. That is the fact this question tests.

SSC's festival questions pair a festival with a deity, a state or a community, so learn each festival with all three attached.

Key facts

Navratri means nine nights and honours Durga in her nine forms, the Navadurga.
It ends on the tenth day, Vijayadashami or Dussehra.
Sharad Navratri falls in the autumn month of Ashvin and Chaitra Navratri in spring.
Durga Puja in Bengal and Garba in Gujarat are regional observances of the same festival.

Study next

Regional names for the same festival across Indian statesDeities paired with the major Indian festivalsChaitra and Sharad Navratri in the Hindu lunar calendar

Common traps

Choosing Lakshmi because Diwali falls in the same festive season.
Treating the worship of Saraswati within Durga Puja as making the festival hers.

SSC's festival items ask for the deity behind a named festival — Rath Yatra and Lord Jagannath on 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.20, and Makar Sankranti and Surya on 25 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.13.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.