SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 1 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.

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The Kambala Festival of coastal Karnataka is primarily associated with which of the following traditions?

(a)Temple fairs
(b)Classical music
(c)Buffalo racing
(d)Tribal rituals

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Kambala is an annual buffalo race of coastal Karnataka. Pairs of buffaloes, driven by a farmer, race down a track that is a slushy paddy field.

It is held in the Tulu-speaking coastal districts such as Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, in a season that generally runs from November to March. The race is the event → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Temple fairs — A few village Kambalas are tied to local deities, but what defines the event is the buffalo race, not a temple fair. The stem asks what it is primarily associated with.
(b)
Classical music — Kambala is a race run on a paddy-field track, not a performance tradition, so classical music does not describe it.
(d)
Tribal rituals — Kambala is traditionally sponsored by Tuluva landlords and households and run as a race, so tribal rituals misdescribe its core.

Concept

Kambala (also spelt Kambla or Kambula) is a rural buffalo race of Tulu Nadu, the Tulu-speaking coast that includes Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. The name is traced to 'kampa', a slushy, muddy field.

Traditional Kambala was non-competitive, with pairs run one at a time. Modern Kambala sets two pairs against each other, is organised by Kambala committees, and in some places runs at night under floodlights.

The stem's word is primarily. In a few villages farmers race their buffaloes to give thanks to local deities, so a ritual side exists at the margins, but the event itself is the race.

Key facts

Kambala is an annual buffalo race of coastal Karnataka, held in districts such as Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
The Kambala racetrack is a slushy paddy field.
The Kambala season generally runs from November to March.
It is traditionally sponsored by Tuluva landlords and households.

Study next

Maramadi, a cattle race of Kerala, usually run with bullocksJallikattu, the bull-taming sport of Tamil NaduYakshagana, the folk theatre of coastal Karnataka

Common traps

Picking temple fairs or tribal rituals because some village Kambalas have a ritual side: the stem asks what the festival is primarily associated with, and that is the race.
Confusing Kambala with Jallikattu: Kambala races buffaloes through Karnataka's paddy fields, Jallikattu is bull-taming in Tamil Nadu.

Here a regional festival is tested by what happens at it. Coastal Karnataka's culture is also asked at 11 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.11, which ties Chittani Ramachandra Hegde to Yakshagana.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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