SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 3 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 traditional wind instrument, characterized by its ornate curved hornpipe design and ceremonial use in the folk music of Himachal Pradesh?

(a)Bhopal
(b)Narsingha
(c)Hulki
(d)Kangarange

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The Narsingha (also spelt narsinga or ransingha) is a curved horn of copper or copper alloy. Two curved tubes join into an S, or refit as a crescent.

Himachal's Nati dance music uses it with the dhol, nagara, shehnai and the straight karnal. The name carries singha, a modern form of Sanskrit śṛṅga, horn → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Bhopal — Bhopal is best known as the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Nothing in it points to a horn, while Narsingha carries singha, the horn word.
(c)
Hulki — Hulki is not the curved copper horn the stem describes. That horn, heard with Himachal's Nati dances, is the Narsingha.
(d)
Kangarange — Kangarange is not the S-shaped copper horn of the stem. Match the description to the name built on singha, horn: Narsingha.

Concept

Himachal's folk bands pair drums such as the dhol and nagara with reeds and horns. Two horns are easy to confuse.

The karnal is a large, straight brass trumpet over a metre long, with a bell shaped like a datura flower, played in processions of village deities.

The Narsingha is the curved one: copper tubes in an S or a crescent. The same horn, in its C shape, is played in Nepal.

The English stem is printed without a main verb. The Hindi version ends with 'is known for', so read it as: which traditional wind instrument is known for its curved design and ceremonial use?

Key facts

The narsinga (ransingha) is a copper or copper-alloy horn of two curved tubes, joined in an S or refitted as a crescent.
The C-shaped narsinga is recorded in Nepal, Himachal Pradesh and southern Bihar.
The karnal is a large, straight brass trumpet over a metre long, used in processions of village deities.
Instruments of Himachal's Nati dance include the dhol, nagara, shehnai, karnal and narsingha.

Study next

Nati, the folk dance of Himachal PradeshFolk instruments of the western Himalaya: karnal, dhol, nagaraNepal's panche baja ensemble

Common traps

Mixing up the two horns: the karnal is straight, the Narsingha curved.
Choosing an unfamiliar name because it sounds regional. Tie the curved shape in the stem to the name that means horn.

Here a folk instrument is identified from its shape and region, so the description itself is the clue.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Culture — all 163 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.