SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 23 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 17 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.

Consider the statements about Dumhal: 1. Exclusively Wattal men plant a banner before dancing. 2. It celebrates apple harvests in southern Kashmir. Which is/are correct?

(a)Only 1 correct
(b)Only 2 correct
(c)Both 1 & 2 correct
(d)Neither 1 nor 2 correct

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Statement 1 is correct. Dumhal is performed only by the men of the Wattal community of Kashmir. They dig a banner into the ground, and the dance usually begins with the men dancing around it.

Statement 2 is wrong. Dumhal is danced on specific occasions and at set places. It is not an apple-harvest celebration of southern Kashmir → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Only 2 correct — Statement 1 is true and statement 2 is false, the reverse of this option. Dumhal is defined by its Wattal performers and their banner, not by an apple harvest.
(c)
Both 1 & 2 correct — Statement 2 is false, so 'both' fails. Dumhal is danced by Wattal men on specific occasions, and is not an apple-harvest celebration of southern Kashmir.
(d)
Neither 1 nor 2 correct — Statement 1 is true. Wattal men alone perform Dumhal, and they plant a banner in the ground and dance around it.

Concept

Dumhal is a folk dance of Kashmir performed only by the men of the Wattal community, on specific occasions and at set locations.

The dancers wear long, colourful robes and tall conical caps studded with beads and shells. They dig a banner into the ground and dance around it, singing in chorus while drums keep the rhythm.

Statement 2 attaches a familiar Kashmiri image, the apple harvest, to the dance. Test each statement against what defines Dumhal: who performs it, and the banner ritual.

Key facts

Dumhal is performed only by men of the Wattal community of Kashmir.
The dancers plant a banner in the ground and dance around it.
Costume: long colourful robes and tall conical caps studded with beads and shells.
The dancers sing in chorus, with drums accompanying.

Study next

Rouf, the Kashmiri folk dance performed by womenFolk dances of Jammu and Kashmir and LadakhCommunity-specific folk dances of India

Common traps

Accepting statement 2 because apples are strongly linked with Kashmir. The statement must fit the dance, not just the region.
Rejecting statement 1 because of the absolute word 'Exclusively'. Here the restriction to Wattal men is exactly what defines Dumhal.

Here Dumhal is tested through two statements. Its defining feature, Wattal men dancing around a planted banner, is asked directly at 19 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.24.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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