SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 1 · 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.

‘Kuki dance’ is a folk dance of India that is predominantly performed in _________.

(a)Nagaland
(b)Rajasthan
(c)Karnataka
(d)Uttar Pradesh

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The Kuki are a hill people of the north-east, and the dance is named for them rather than for a step or a season.

So the question is really asking where the Kuki live. Of the four states offered, only Nagaland is one of them — Kuki is listed among Nagaland's Scheduled Tribes.

Rajasthan, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have no Kuki population and no dance of that name, which leaves option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Rajasthan — Rajasthan's folk repertoire is Ghoomar, Kalbelia and Terah Taali — desert and Thar traditions with no Kuki connection of any kind.
(c)
Karnataka — Karnataka's folk stage is Yakshagana, with Dollu Kunitha beside it. These are coastal and Kannada traditions, not north-eastern ones.
(d)
Uttar Pradesh — Uttar Pradesh's folk forms are Charkula, Raslila and Nautanki, rooted in Braj and the Gangetic plain, far from Kuki country.

Concept

Folk dance items are state-matching, and the fastest route is often elimination by region rather than recall of the dance itself.

Kuki is an ethnonym. The dance carries the name of the people who perform it, so knowing where that community lives answers the question without knowing a single step.

That is a north-eastern answer, and Nagaland is the only north-eastern state on the list. Naga dances are performed at community festivals in full traditional dress, the best-known platform being the Hornbill Festival.

Kuki communities also live in Manipur, Mizoram and Assam. Only one north-eastern state appears among the options, so the key is unambiguous as the question is set, but do not carry away the idea that the Kuki are found in Nagaland alone.

Key facts

Kuki is listed among the Scheduled Tribes of Nagaland.
Kuki communities also live in Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.
Nagaland's Hornbill Festival is held each December at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, near Kohima.
Kalbelia of Rajasthan is inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Study next

Folk dances of the north-eastern states and the tribes that perform themRajasthan's folk dances: Ghoomar, Kalbelia, Terah Taali, BhavaiIndian entries on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list

Common traps

Placing the Kuki in Manipur and then hunting for Manipur among the options, where it does not appear.
Treating a dance name as a place name when it is the name of a people.

State-to-dance items are steady General Awareness fare.

Tera Tali was keyed to Rajasthan on 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.16, Matki to Madhya Pradesh on 17 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.13, and Yakshagan to Karnataka on 26 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.2.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.