SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 2 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 13 September 2026.

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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 best captures the cultural essence and rituals of Baran’s Dol Mela in Rajasthan?

(a)The fair opens with Dev Viman stunts by akhada artists and concludes with an Amavasya night immersion across the city.
(b)Lord Shreeji and Raghunathji’s processions on Jaljhulani Gyaras attract traders from several states.
(c)Known as Annapurna Gyaras, Baran’s Dol Mela is celebrated only in Madhya Pradesh after the monsoon harvest.
(d)Held between Shravan and Ashwin, the event is led by monks in caves, separate from temple traditions.

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Baran's Dol Mela begins on Jaljhulani Gyaras, the Ekadashi of Bhadrapada's bright fortnight, with a procession of the deities of the city's temples in their dols.

The Government of India's Utsav festival portal says thousands of devotees gather every year to see Shreeji and Raghunathji embrace, and that traders come from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
The fair opens with Dev Viman stunts by akhada artists and concludes with an Amavasya night immersion across the city. — Amavasya is a new-moon night, and this fair is fixed to Jaljhulani Gyaras, an Ekadashi. Akhada feats with the Dev Vimans are real, but the fair opens with the deities' procession.
(c)
Known as Annapurna Gyaras, Baran’s Dol Mela is celebrated only in Madhya Pradesh after the monsoon harvest. — Only in Madhya Pradesh is wrong on its face, since the stem places the fair in Baran, Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh supplies traders and visitors, not the venue.
(d)
Held between Shravan and Ashwin, the event is led by monks in caves, separate from temple traditions. — Separate from temple traditions is false: the fair is built on the processions of Baran's temple deities. Its month window is not the flaw, since Bhadrapada falls between Shravan and Ashwin.

Concept

Baran lies in the Hadoti region of south-east Rajasthan. Its Dol Mela opens on Jaljhulani Gyaras (Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi) with a Shobha Yatra in which the deities of the city's temples ride in their Dev Vimans, or dols.

The fair is held at the Dol Talab, a pond in Baran city. Akhada performers show feats alongside the Dev Vimans.

Each wrong option borrows a real detail, such as the akhadas and Dev Vimans, a Gyaras, or a month window around Bhadrapada, and wraps it in a false frame. Judge the frame: the day, the state and the tie to temple processions.

Key facts

Baran's Dol Mela begins on Jaljhulani Gyaras, the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada.
Its centrepiece is a Shobha Yatra of the city's temple deities in Dev Vimans (dols).
Akhada performers show feats with the Dev Vimans during the fair.
Traders from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh come to the fair.

Study next

Rajasthan's fairs: Pushkar, Nagaur, Gangaur and the Urs at AjmerHindu calendar terms: Ekadashi, Amavasya, Purnima, Shukla and Krishna paksha

Common traps

Accepting the akhada-and-Amavasya statement because akhadas really perform. A true detail inside a false frame still makes the statement false.
Rejecting the Shravan–Ashwin statement on its dates. Bhadrapada does fall between those months, and the false part is monks in caves, separate from temple traditions.

Rajasthan's fairs are also asked by state at 12 Sep 2024, 12:30 PM, GA Q.23 (Gangaur, Pushkar, Nagaur and Urs, keyed Rajasthan). 17 Sep 2025, 12:30 PM, GA Q.2 uses the same 'best captures the essence' frame for Uttarakhand's Bissu Mela.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Culture — all 246 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.