SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 8 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.

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.

What is the primary instrument used in the performance of Burrakatha in Andhra Pradesh?

(a)Dholak
(b)Tambura
(c)Noot
(d)Rabab

Answer

Why

Correct — B. In Burrakatha the main storyteller plays the tambura, a stringed instrument with a hollow shell, and dances as he narrates.

The name points to it: burra refers to the tambura's hollow shell, which is likened to a skull. The co-performers keep rhythm on earthen drums → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Dholak — Burrakatha does use drums, but they belong to the co-performers: gummeta, two-headed earthen drums. The lead holds the tambura, and the dholak is not the form's instrument.
(c)
Noot — The noot is a rounded earthen pot played as percussion in Kashmiri music, far from the Telugu storytelling of Burrakatha.
(d)
Rabab — The rabab is a lute that came from Afghanistan and is central to Kashmir's musical heritage. Burrakatha's stringed instrument is the tambura.

Concept

Burrakatha is a narrative performance of the villages of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The main performer narrates, sings and plays the tambura, while the co-performers play the gummeta (also called dakki or budike), two-headed earthen drums.

The performers wear gajjelu, anklets that add to the music when they dance. The lead also strikes metal rings, andelu, together as extra percussion.

The stem asks for the primary instrument. Burrakatha has drums, so a candidate who remembers drummers can be pulled towards the dholak, but the form is built around the lead performer's tambura.

Key facts

Burrakatha is a storytelling form of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The main performer plays the tambura.
The co-performers play gummeta (dakki or budike), two-headed earthen drums.
The noot is a rounded earthen pot played as percussion in Kashmiri music.

Study next

Kuchipudi, the classical dance form of Andhra PradeshFolk instruments of Kashmir: noot, rabab and tumbaknaerOther ballad traditions, such as Pandavani of Chhattisgarh

Common traps

Picking the dholak because Burrakatha has drummers: the drums are the co-performers' gummeta, and the lead plays the tambura.

Here a folk form is tested through its instrument, with distractors drawn from another region: the noot and the rabab belong to Kashmir's music.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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