SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 4 of 99

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.

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 best describes Achal and Chal swaras in Indian classical music?

(a)All swaras have fixed pitch in both systems
(b)Sa and Pa are fixed; others have variants like Komal or Teevra
(c)Komal and Teevra swaras are used only in Carnatic music
(d)Ga and Ni are always sung in Shuddha form in all styles

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Achal means immovable. IGNOU's music course names Sa and Pa as the achal swaras, which always stay at their fixed place.

The other five, Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni, are chal swaras and can move. Re, Ga, Dha and Ni have komal (lowered) forms and Ma a teevra (raised) form → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
All swaras have fixed pitch in both systems — Only Sa and Pa are fixed. Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni are chal swaras that can shift, so 'all swaras fixed' is false in either system.
(c)
Komal and Teevra swaras are used only in Carnatic music — Komal and teevra are Hindustani names for lowered and raised notes, and IGNOU's examples are ragas Bhairavi and Yaman. Carnatic music names its note variants differently.
(d)
Ga and Ni are always sung in Shuddha form in all styles — Ga and Ni both have komal forms. IGNOU notes that raga Bhairavi uses all four komal swaras, so neither is always sung shuddha.

Concept

Indian classical music has seven shuddha (natural) swaras: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. A swara shifted from its place becomes vikrit.

Shifted down, it is komal: Re, Ga, Dha and Ni have komal forms. Shifted up, it is teevra, and Ma alone takes that form.

Seven shuddha plus five vikrit give the twelve notes of the saptak.

IGNOU anchors the terms in two ragas: Bhairavi uses all the komal swaras, and Yaman uses teevra Ma. Those two examples keep komal and teevra apart.

Key facts

Achal swaras: Sa and Pa, which never leave their fixed place.
Chal swaras: Re, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni.
Komal forms exist for Re, Ga, Dha and Ni, and a teevra form for Ma alone.
A saptak has 12 notes: 7 shuddha and 5 vikrit.

Study next

The ten thaats of Hindustani music and their komal and teevra notesVadi, samvadi and vivadi swaras in a ragaThe 22 shrutis and how the seven swaras are chosen from them

Common traps

Treating Ma as fixed because it is so common. Ma is chal, and it is the note that takes the teevra form.
Placing komal and teevra in Carnatic music. They are Hindustani terms.

Here the swara system is tested through the achal–chal pair, with the wrong options misplacing komal and teevra.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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