SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 23 September 2025, Shift 3 · 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 13 September 2026.

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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 a key architectural feature of the Sun Temple at Modhera?

(a)Gopuram
(b)Garuda pillar
(c)Stepped tank
(d)Vimana

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The Sun Temple at Modhera, in Gujarat's Mehsana district, has three parts: the Gudhamandapa (shrine hall), the Sabhamandapa (assembly hall) and the Kunda, a reservoir.

That kund, called Suryakunda or Ramakunda, is a rectangular tank lined with steps down to the water: a stepped tank → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Gopuram — A gopuram is the monumental gateway tower of a Dravida temple, as at Madurai's Meenakshi Temple. Modhera is a western Indian temple in the Maru-Gurjara style, and its signature is the tank.
(b)
Garuda pillar — A Garuda pillar is a column crowned by Garuda, Vishnu's mount, like the Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar, dedicated to Vasudeva. Modhera's temple is to Surya, the Sun.
(d)
Vimana — Vimana is the Dravida name for the tower over the sanctum. Modhera is a Nagara-family temple, where that tower is a shikhara, and its original shikhara no longer survives.

Concept

The Sun Temple at Modhera stands on the bank of the Pushpavati river in Mehsana district, Gujarat. It was built in the 11th century under the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty, in the reigns of Bhima I and Karna I.

Its style is Maru-Gurjara, also called the Chaulukya style, the temple idiom of medieval Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The original shikhara over Modhera's sanctum no longer exists. What survives is the shrine hall, the assembly hall and the kund.

Key facts

Sun Temple, Modhera: Mehsana district, Gujarat, on the Pushpavati river.
Built in the 11th century under the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty, in the Maru-Gurjara style.
Its three parts: Gudhamandapa (shrine hall), Sabhamandapa (assembly hall) and the Kunda, called Suryakunda or Ramakunda.
Gopuram and vimana are Dravida terms: the gateway tower and the tower over the sanctum.

Study next

Konark Sun Temple: the chariot plan, its wheels and horsesDravida temple parts: vimana, gopuram and mandapaGujarat's stepwells, such as Rani ki Vav at Patan

Common traps

Answering from Konark: 'Sun Temple' does not mean chariot wheels. Modhera's defining feature is its kund.
Picking vimana because every temple has a tower over the sanctum. Vimana is the Dravida name for it.

Konark in Odisha is asked by its chariot form: its seven horses at 24 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.2 and its wheels at 15 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.1. The Dravida terms return as keys: the vimana at 20 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.2 and Madurai's gopurams at 24 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.4.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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