SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 24 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which of the following statements are correct? 1. Kalbelia performers rarely document their art due to its oral nomadic heritage. 2. Costumes avoid stitched elements in honor of serpent rituals. 3. The community’s art was included in UNESCO ICH list without any written application process.

(a)Only 1
(b)Only 2 & 3
(c)All 1, 2 & 3
(d)Only 1 & 3

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Statement 1 is true. UNESCO says the Kalbelia songs and dances form "an oral tradition for which no texts or training manuals exist", passed down from generation to generation.

Statement 2 is false. UNESCO describes the dancers' garments as richly embroidered with small mirrors and silver thread.

Statement 3 is false. The element was inscribed in 2010 on a written nomination file, No. 00340. That leaves statement 1 only.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Only 2 & 3 — Both statements it keeps are false. The costumes are richly embroidered with mirrors and silver thread, and the UNESCO listing rests on a written nomination file.
(c)
All 1, 2 & 3 — Statements 2 and 3 are false. UNESCO describes embroidered garments, and Kalbelia's 2010 inscription rests on a written nomination file, No. 00340.
(d)
Only 1 & 3 — Statement 3 is false. Kalbelia was inscribed in 2010 on a written nomination file (No. 00340), which comes with a record of the communities' consent.

Concept

The Kalbelia of Rajasthan were once professional snake handlers, and their dance keeps that memory. Women in flowing black skirts swirl, replicating a serpent's movements.

Men accompany them on the khanjari and the poongi, a woodwind traditionally played to capture snakes.

UNESCO inscribed "Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

Statement 1 says performers "rarely document" their art. UNESCO's wording is stronger, since no texts or training manuals exist, and the key reads statement 1 as consistent with it.

Key facts

UNESCO inscribed Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.
UNESCO: the songs and dances form part of an oral tradition for which no texts or training manuals exist.
UNESCO: the dancers wear garments richly embroidered with small mirrors and silver thread.
The Kalbelia inscription rests on nomination file No. 00340.

Study next

Chhau and Mudiyettu, also inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List in 2010The Sangeet Natak Akademi and India's intangible heritage nominationsOther folk dances of Rajasthan, such as Ghoomar and Terah Taali

Common traps

Assuming a UNESCO listing happens without paperwork — the Kalbelia inscription rests on a nomination file.
Accepting a costume rule because it sounds ritual — UNESCO describes embroidered, mirror-worked garments.

Kalbelia is also asked at 12 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.20, on the animal its dance imitates, and at 18 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.24, matched to the nomadic snake-charmers of Rajasthan.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Scientific Research — all 178 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.