SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 11 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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What is the typical base design of the simplest Nagara-style shikhara?

(a)Circular base with domes
(b)Square base with curving walls
(c)Triangular base with garden
(d)Rectangular base with domes

Answer

Why

Correct — B. NCERT's account of Nagara temples describes the simple shikhara as one that is square at the base and whose walls curve or slope inward to a point on top.

That form is called the latina or rekha-prasada type → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Circular base with domes — A circular base with domes is not a Nagara form. The Nagara tower rises from a square plan and curves inward to a point, capped by an amalaka, not a dome.
(c)
Triangular base with garden — No Nagara shikhara has a triangular base, and a garden is no part of a tower. The option pairs an unrelated shape with a landscape feature.
(d)
Rectangular base with domes — A rectangular plan belongs to the valabhi type, whose roof rises into a wagon-vaulted chamber. That vault is not a dome, and valabhi is not the simple shikhara.

Concept

NCERT groups Nagara buildings by the shape of the shikhara. The latina (rekha-prasada) tower is square at the base with walls curving inward to a point. The phamsana is broader and shorter, its roof slabs rising on a straight incline to a single point.

The valabhi is rectangular, with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber shaped like a wagon. A Nagara shikhara is crowned by the amalaka, a fluted disc, topped by a kalasha.

Two options pair a shape with domes, which are no part of a Nagara tower. Only the square-and-curving pair matches NCERT's description.

Key facts

Latina (rekha-prasada) shikhara: square at the base, walls curving or sloping inward to a point (NCERT Class 11, An Introduction to Indian Art).
Phamsana: broader and shorter, with roof slabs rising on a straight incline to a single point.
Valabhi: a rectangular building with a wagon-vaulted roof.
In many North Indian temples the phamsana form roofs the mandapa while the garbhagriha sits under a latina tower.

Study next

Nagara, Dravida and Vesara temple styles comparedParts of a Nagara temple: garbhagriha, mandapa, shikhara, amalaka, kalashaRegional Nagara schools such as Odisha (Kalinga) and Khajuraho

Common traps

Reading 'rectangular' as the plain option: the rectangular plan is the valabhi type, not the simple shikhara.
Choosing any option with domes: domes do not belong to the Nagara tower.

Nagara vocabulary is also asked at 19 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.2 (the amalaka sits atop the shikhara) and 23 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.1 (the bhadra is the central offset of the wall face).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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