SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 23 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 13 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.

Which of the following is a festival primarily celebrated in the state of Odisha?

(a)Chhath
(b)Raja Parba
(c)Me-Dam-Me-Phi
(d)Baishagu

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Raja Parba is Odisha's three-day festival of the earth, kept in mid-June: its second day marks the start of the solar month of Mithuna, from which the rains begin.

It rests on the belief that Bhudevi, the earth goddess, menstruates. Agricultural work stops for the days of the festival — no digging, no ploughing — and rope swings go up on banyan trees for the young women who sing there.

Of the four names offered, option (b) is the Odia one; the rest belong to other states.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Chhath — Chhath is the sun festival of Bihar and the eastern Hindi belt, in which arghya is offered to the setting and the rising sun. Odisha is not its home region.
(c)
Me-Dam-Me-Phi — Me-Dam-Me-Phi is the ancestor-worship festival of the Ahom community of Assam, not an Odia observance.
(d)
Baishagu — Baishagu is the spring festival of the Bodo community of Assam, kept in mid-April at the start of their new year.

Concept

Odisha's festival calendar is worth a short list of its own: Raja Parba for the earth and the coming monsoon, Nuakhai for the first harvested rice, and the Rath Yatra at Puri for Jagannath.

Raja stands out for two reasons. Its subject is the soil itself rather than a temple deity, and its central observance is a prohibition — the ground is left alone while the earth is said to be resting.

That agricultural logic, tied to the arrival of the monsoon, is the part worth remembering.

The name is written several ways — Raja, Rajo, Raja Parba — and sources differ on whether to count three days or to add the preparatory and bathing days around them. Expect any spelling in an option.

Key facts

Raja Parba is celebrated in Odisha over three days in mid-June.
Its second day marks the beginning of the solar month of Mithuna, when the rainy season starts.
Agricultural work, including ploughing, stops during the festival as a mark of respect to the earth.
Rope swings hung from banyan trees and the songs sung on them are the festival's best-known custom.

Study next

Odisha's festivals: Raja, Nuakhai and the Puri Rath YatraCommunity festivals of Assam: Me-Dam-Me-Phi and BwisaguChhath Puja and its four days of ritual

Common traps

Picking Chhath because it is the eastern festival you know best on the list.
Assuming the most tribal-sounding name must belong to the state with the large tribal population.

Festival-to-state is asked in other shifts too: Nuakhai to Odisha on 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.3, Chhath to Bihar on 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.22, and Me-dam-me-phi to Assam on 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.22. The Puri Rath Yatra is asked by its deity instead on 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.20.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Culture — all 122 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.