RAS question
In Rajasthan's folk-performance tradition, what did the term Dangal denote in the Turra-Kalangi context?
Correct answer: (A) Poetic compositions used to carry Shiv-Shakti ideas among people.
In the Turra-Kalangi Khyal tradition of Rajasthan, Dangal denoted the poetic compositions through which Shiv-Shakti ideas were carried into folk life.
Explanation
The IGNCA page places Dangal within the Turra-Kalangi Khyal tradition, not as a separate game or theatre form. The form was created by the Mewar saint-pirs Shah Ali and Tukan Gir, with Turra treated as the symbol of Shiv and Kalangi as the symbol of Parvati. Tukan Gir stood for the Turra side and Shah Ali for the Kalangi side. Through Turra-Kalangi, the two sides carried Shiv-Shakti ideas into folk life, and the main medium of that spread was poetic composition. These poetic compositions were known in folk society as Dangal, which is why option A captures the term precisely.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) A cloth-board indoor game decided by dice or cowries describes Chaupad or Chausar, whereas the Turra-Kalangi passage uses Dangal for poetic compositions.
- (C) The Bikaner-Jaisalmer folk-poetry contest context belongs to Rammat, while Dangal is identified in the Turra-Kalangi Khyal context.
- (D) Nautanki is treated as a separate theatrical form of Karauli, Bharatpur and adjoining regions, not as the name for Turra-Kalangi compositions.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan folk theatre terminology, especially how Khyal traditions encode religious-philosophical ideas in performance. RAS repeats such terms because art-and-culture questions often turn on distinguishing closely related folk forms rather than memorising broad labels.