SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 22 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 20 of 98

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.

Arrange the performance segments of Paika Nritya: 1. Blowing the war conch (shankha) 2. Shield-sword sparring drills 3. Acrobatic somersaults 4. Group victory shout of “Jai Jagannath”

(a)1-2-3-4
(b)2-1-3-4
(c)1-3-2-4
(d)3-2-1-4

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The key reads the performance as a battle in miniature, in the order a fight unfolds:

1 the war conch calls the fighters
2 shield-sword sparring is the combat
3 acrobatic somersaults show off the fighters' skill
4 the shout of 'Jai Jagannath' marks victory

Call, combat, display, victory → 1-2-3-4, option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
2-1-3-4 — Fighting before the call. Putting sparring (2) ahead of the conch (1) reverses the opening, since the conch is the call that starts the fight.
(c)
1-3-2-4 — Acrobatics before the combat. Moving the somersaults (3) ahead of the sword-and-shield drills (2) breaks the call, combat, display, victory arc the key follows.
(d)
3-2-1-4 — The call comes third. Opening with somersaults (3) and leaving the conch (1) until after the sparring puts the call to arms after the fighting it announces.

Concept

Paika is a martial dance tradition of Odisha. The word derives from padatika, 'infantry': the Paikas were foot soldiers of Odisha's kings, drawn from castes such as the Khandayat, Chasa and Gopal.

The art lives on in Paika akhadas (training halls). Performers in two rows with wooden swords and shields close in slowly, then break into mock combat as the drum quickens, with acrobatic moves.

No source we could check fixes these four segments as a set choreography. The account of Paika akhada we read describes a slow approach, then mock combat as the tempo rises, with acrobatics.

The key's order follows the arc of a battle, and that reasoning is what the item rewards.

Key facts

Paika is a martial dance tradition of Odisha, kept alive in Paika akhadas (training halls).
'Paika' comes from padatika, meaning infantry.
Performers use swords and shields and move to the drum.
The Paika Rebellion of 1817 in Khurda was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu.

Study next

Paika Rebellion of 1817 and Bakshi JagabandhuMartial arts and martial dances of India: Kalaripayattu, Thang-ta, PaikaFolk dances of Odisha

Common traps

Hunting for a memorised choreography: the item is solvable by the order of a battle, call to arms first and victory cry last.
Confusing the dance with the Paika Rebellion: the dance is a living tradition, the rebellion an 1817 rising against the East India Company.

18 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.24 matches Paika to the Khandayat warrior caste of Odisha. Indian martial traditions also appear at GA Q.3 of this shift (the Urumi, keyed Kalaripayattu).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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