At a real and not online quiz, years ago

I was contacted a fortnight ago by Sangita Kalanidhi Dr S Sowmya and asked to put together a quiz on Carnatic Music for the Sukrtam Foundation’s Music Carnival. Last year, this event was held at her family residence in Royapettah and witnessed fabulous participation by artistes, students and rasika-s. This year it moved online, with an inauguration by Mr N Murali, President, The Music Academy, Madras and Mr VV Sundaram of the Cleveland Music Festival. On the anvil were several events – quizzes, games, puppet shows and skits.

The quiz that I put together, helped technologically by violinist L Ramakrishnan had four rounds, all based on the buzzer. There was an elimination round prior to this, based on MCQs and 65 people set in their answers. Fifteen made it to the finals, out of which 13 came online for the event proper. For your entertainment, I am providing the MCQ elimination round here –

  1. Before he published his Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini, Subbarama Dikshitar published another book. Which one? 

A. Prathamabhyasa Pustakamu 

B. Chaturdandi Prakasika

C. Pallaki Seva Prabandha

D. Vaggeyakara Charitramu

  1. If we were to follow the raga names we found in the copperplate inscriptions of Annamayya, which is the raga in which the bulk of his songs would be sung?

A. Gundakriya

B. Kamboji 

C. Revagupti

D. Kalyani 

  1. Which among the following is a temple not visited by Purandaradasa?

A. Athigiri

B. Srirangam

C. Thiruvannamalai 

D. Srikalahasti

  1. What was Bhadrachala Ramadasa’s real name?

A. Linganna

B. Gopanna

C. Akkanna 

D. Madanna

  1. We are told that Tyagaraja has an evil brother by name Japyesa. In reality there was none of that name. How many brothers did Tyagaraja have? 

A. One

B. Two

C. Three

D. None

  1. In which kriti of Muthuswami Dikshitar does he extol the Lord for being an alchemist?

A. Shri Mahaganapati (Gaula)

B. Shri Viswanatham (chaturdasa ragamalika)

C. Sarasa sauvira (Sauviram)

D. Sundaramurtim (Takka)

  1. Which among these is the oldest award instituted by the Music Academy?

A. Sangita Kalanidhi

B. Sangita Kala Acharya

C. TTK Award

D. Certificate of Merit

  1. If Varadadasa was the Mudra of MD Ramanathan, whose was Padmapuri Varada?

A. Tiger Varadachariar

B. Puliyodarai Krishnamachariar

C. Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar

D. Patnam Subramania Iyer

  1. What was Arunachala Kavi’s profession? 

A. Court poet

B. Pawnbroker

C. Translator

D. Discourser 

  1. On Arunachala Kavi again. As is well known, his Rama Natakam is heavily influenced by Kamba Ramayana. He acknowledges it by saying that Kamban is a Garuda while he himself is a?

A. Pigeon

B. Sparrow

C. Crow

D. Mosquito

  1. One of the most important modifications to the tavil in recent years has been the introduction of steel belts in place of leather. Who is credited with these? A.Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai B. Porayaru Venugopala Pillai C.Valayapatti AR Subramaniam, D. Haridvaramangalam AK Palanivel
  2. Whose Mudra was Tyagesa?

A. Thiruvottriyur Tyagier

B. King Shahaji

C. Ramaswami Dikshitar

D. TM Tyagarajan

  1. Which of these wrote a book denying the existence of vivadi ragas 

A. Madurai Ponnusamy Pillai

B. Koteeswara Iyer

C. S Balachander

D. Periyasami Thooran

  1. Complete the sequence 

Muthuswami Dikshitar- Koteeswara Iyer

Tyagaraja – Ramanathapuram Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar

Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar -Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar

Annie Besant?

A. Tiger Varadachariar

B. MD Ramanathan

C. Papanasam Sivan

D. Karaikkudi Sambasiva Iyer

  1. Which of the following helped in setting to tune songs to be sung at church?

A. Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai

B. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar

C. Patnam Subramania Iyer

D. P Sambamurthy

  1. Find the odd one out 

A. Musiri Subramania Iyer

B. Papanasam Sivan

C. Kanchipuram Naina Pillai

D. MD Ramanathan

  1. While the M in MS Subbulakshmi was for Madurai, D in DK Pattammal was for Damal and M in ML Vasanthakumari was for Madras, NC Vasanthakokilam was from Irunjalakuda but had the initial N. What did it stand for? 

A. Nanguneri

B. Nangavaram

C. Nagapattinam

D. Nanganallur

  1. Which among these composers has created pieces in the genres of kriti, svarajati, tillana and varnam? 

A. Mysore Vasudevachar

B. Syama Sastry

C. Mayuram Viswanatha Sastry

D. Papanasam Sivan

  1. In honour of which flautist is the song Chetulara played on the flute at the Tyagaraja Aradhana?

A. TR Mahalingam

B. Sarabha Sastry

C. Palladam Sanjeeva Rao

D. Thirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai

  1. Which of the following has composed a song on Narasimha of Namakkal?

A. Mysore Sadasiva Rao

B. Bangalore Nagarathnamma

C. Ambujam Krishna

D. Muthuswami Dikshitar 

Answers are here. The finals can be viewed here on my YouTube channel. You can also view this, and other events at the Sukrtam Channel.