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Art Culture Syllabus for UPSC: So, we will understand the UPSC’s main Indian Art culture syllabus. Below we have covered all the information. There are three main categories in the Indian Ary Syllabus. They are

  1. Performing Arts
  2. Visual Arts
  3. Literary Arts

Further, in the Performing Arts, we have many topics that we have covered below.

Dances of India:

Classical Dance Form

  • Kathakali
  • Bharatnatyam
  • Kuchipudi
  • Manipuri
  • Sattriya
  • Kathak
  • Odissi

Regional Dance Form

  • Chhau
  • Bhangra
  • Bihu
  • Garba
  • Dumhal
  • Dhamal
  • Lavani

Music of India (Hindustani, Carnatic, and Regional Music)

  • The Tata Vadya or Chordophones – Stringed instruments like Sitar, Santoor, Veena, etc.
  • The Sushira Vadya or Aero phones – Wind instruments like flute, Nada swaram, Shehnai, etc.
  • The AvanaddhaVadya or Membranophones – Percussion instruments like Tabla, Mridangam, Dholak, etc.
  • The Ghana Vadya or Idiophones – Solid instruments which do not require tuning (mostly used in tribal and folk music)

Visual Arts

Indian Sculpture

  • Buddhist Sculpture
  • Pre-historic
  • Modern Indian Sculpture
  • Gupta Sculpture
  • Indus Valley Civilization
  • Medieval School of Sculpture

Indian Architecture 

  • Buddhist Architecture
  • Temple Architecture
  • Pre-historic
  • Indus Valley Civilization
  • Modern Architecture

Indian Painting

  • Miniature Painting
  • Wall Paintings of India
  • Modern Indian Painting

Temple Architecture

  • Temple basics: Sanctum Sanctorum (Gharbhgriha) Mandapa Shikara Vahana
  • Dravida, Nagara, and Vesara Style
  • Gopurama, Vimana etc.
  • Indian Bronze Sculpture
  • Indo-Islamic Architecture

Topics under Literary Arts

  • Ancient Indian Literature
  • Literature in Pali and Prakrit
  • Classical Sanskrit Literature
  • Medieval Literature
  • The Purana
  • Early Dravidian Literature
  • Indian Romanticism
  • Women Poets of Bhakti
  • The Emergence of Nationalism
  • Modern Indian Literature
  • Progressive Literature
  • The Literature of Nationalism, Reformism, and Revivalism
  • Other Trends in Medieval Literature
  • Making of Modern Theatre
  • The Advent of Mahatma Gandhi
  • Search for Modernity
  • Lastly, Contemporary Literature

Art and Culture Books for IAS Exam

NCERT Class 11 – Living Crafts Traditions of India

2. NCERT Class 11 – An Introduction to Indian Art Part-I

3. NCERT Class 12 – Craft Traditions of India

4. Indian Art and Culture By Nitin Singhania

5. NIOS Art and Culture Notes

6. CCRT Books from the Ministry of Culture7. Friday Review of The Hindu paper that covers Art and Culture portion