Category 11 · Art & Culture

Miscellaneous

33 micro topics in Art & Culture for UPSC Prelims, in book order: Government Cultural Institutions in India (Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, ASI, INTACH); Museums of India (National Museum, Indian Museum Kolkata, Salar Jung Museum); and 31 more.

11.1

Government Cultural Institutions in India (Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, ASI, INTACH)

Government cultural institutions in India are the bodies under the Ministry of Culture that fund, protect and promote art, literature and heritage. The main national academies are the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953, music, dance and drama),…
11.2

Museums of India (National Museum, Indian Museum Kolkata, Salar Jung Museum)

Museums of India are institutions that collect and display art, archaeology and natural history. The Indian Museum in Kolkata, founded in 1814 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, is the oldest and largest multipurpose museum in…
11.3

UNESCO's List of Cultural Heritage in India (World Heritage Sites)

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India are places of outstanding universal value inscribed under the World Heritage Convention of 1972, which India ratified in 1977. As of November 2026, India has 45 sites: 37 cultural, 7…
11.4

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List (Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Durga Puja, Kutiyattam, Ramlila, Vedic Chanting, Chhau Dance, Sankirtana, Buddhist Chanting of Ladakh, Nawrouz)

The UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity records living traditions under the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which India ratified in 2005. As of November 2026, India…
11.5

UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was launched in 2004 to link cities that use creativity for sustainable urban development. Cities are designated in fields such as Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media…
11.6

UNESCO Global Geopark

A UNESCO Global Geopark is a single, unified area with geological sites of international significance that is managed for conservation, education and sustainable development of local communities. The programme, called the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme…
11.7

Protection & Promotion of Indian Culture – Legal Provisions (AMASR Act, Antiquities Act)

The legal protection of Indian culture rests on the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958 and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, along with constitutional provisions. The AMASR Act protects monuments…
11.8

National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities

The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) is a Ministry of Culture mission launched in 2007 to document India's built heritage and antiquities in a national database. It is run through the Archaeological Survey of…
11.9

National Mission on Manuscripts

The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), also written as National Mission on Manuscripts, was launched in February 2003 by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to survey, document, conserve and digitise India's manuscripts, which are estimated…
11.10

National Virtual Library of India

The National Virtual Library of India (NVLI) is a Ministry of Culture project that builds a searchable digital database of Indian cultural and library resources, and it is one of the four components of the National…
11.11

Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission

The Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission (GHSM) is a Ministry of Culture central sector scheme, set up on 29 July 2013, to preserve and promote places linked with Mahatma Gandhi. It supports upkeep, conservation, documentation and digital…
11.12

Muziris Heritage Site

The Muziris Heritage Project is a Government of Kerala conservation and tourism project on the site of Muziris, an ancient Indian Ocean port on the Periyar river delta in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. Muziris traded pepper,…
11.13

Awards and Honours Associated with Culture (Padma Awards, Akademi Awards, Dadasaheb Phalke Award)

Awards and honours associated with culture in India include the national civilian honours (Bharat Ratna and the Padma Awards, instituted in 1954), the Akademi awards of the Sangeet Natak, Sahitya and Lalit Kala Akademis, and the…
11.14

International Yoga Day

International Day of Yoga is observed every year on 21 June. The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 69/131 on 11 December 2014, with a record 175 co-sponsors, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed it at…
11.15

Indian Handicrafts

Indian handicrafts are goods made largely by hand by artisans using traditional skills, such as textiles, metalware, pottery, woodwork, stone carving and toys. They are a major source of rural employment and exports, and the sector…
11.16

HRIDAY

HRIDAY stands for the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana. It was a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Urban Development, later the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, launched on 21 January 2015…
11.17

SWADESH DARSHAN

Swadesh Darshan is a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, launched in 2014-15, for the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits in India. It began with 13 thematic circuits, such as Buddhist, Ramayana, Himalayan,…
11.18

PRASAD Scheme

PRASAD is a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, launched in 2014-15, for the integrated development of pilgrimage and heritage destinations. The name stands for Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive, and since 2017…
11.19

Adarsh Smarak Yojana

Adarsh Smarak Yojana is an initiative of the Archaeological Survey of India under the Ministry of Culture to give basic and advanced visitor amenities at 100 selected centrally protected monuments, which are called Adarsh Smarak or…
11.20

Sanskriti App

Sanskriti App is the name used for digital and mobile outreach tools of the Indian culture sector, meant to bring heritage, art forms and cultural events to citizens on a phone. As of November 2026 no…
11.21

Cultural Mapping of India

Cultural mapping of India is a Ministry of Culture effort to document the cultural assets of the country, such as art forms, artists, crafts, festivals, oral traditions, monuments and local knowledge, down to village level. It…
11.22

Cultural Scheme Monitoring System

Cultural Scheme Monitoring System is the label used for the online tracking of grants and schemes of the Ministry of Culture, so that applications, releases of funds, utilisation and outcomes can be followed from one dashboard.…
11.23

Schemes for Serious Literature and Litterateurs

Schemes for serious literature and litterateurs are the programmes of the Ministry of Culture and its bodies that support writers and quality writing: the Sahitya Akademi, founded in 1954, which gives annual awards in 24 languages;…
11.24

Swachh Bharat Swachh Smarak/Paryatan

Swachh Bharat Swachh Smarak and Swachh Paryatan is the cleanliness drive for monuments and tourist places, set under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched on 2 October 2014. The Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of…
11.25

Incredible India 2.0 Campaign

Incredible India 2.0 is the second phase of the Ministry of Tourism's international brand campaign, launched in 2017 after the original Incredible India campaign of 2002. It shifted from a single global message to market-specific campaigns,…
11.26

Project Mausam

Project Mausam is a Ministry of Culture initiative launched in 2014 to revive and study the maritime routes and cultural landscapes of the Indian Ocean, linking India with countries of East Africa, West Asia, South Asia…
11.27

International Buddhist Conclave

The International Buddhist Conclave is a periodic event organised by the Ministry of Tourism, with host states, to promote Buddhist heritage and pilgrimage tourism in India, where the Buddha was born as Siddhartha at Lumbini (now…
11.28

GI Tags (Definition, GI vs Trademark, Rights, Famous Goods e.g. Darjeeling Tea, Banarasi Saree, Mysore Silk, Nagpur Orange; Latest Additions)

A Geographical Indication, or GI tag, is an intellectual property right that identifies goods as originating from a specific place, where a quality, reputation or other characteristic is linked to that origin. In India GI is…
11.29

Personalities Related to Culture

Personalities related to culture are the artists, musicians, dancers, writers, scholars and institution builders whom UPSC links with Indian art and culture. Key names include Rabindranath Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize in 1913 and founded…
11.30

Places of Cultural Interest

Places of cultural interest are the monuments, temples, caves, towns and landscapes of India that hold major artistic, historical or religious value, many of them inscribed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Early inscriptions in 1983…
11.31

The Calendar & the Eras (Saka, Vikram Samvat, Hijri)

The Indian calendar and eras are the systems used to count time in India: the Vikram Samvat, starting in 57 BCE; the Saka era, starting in 78 CE and the basis of India's national calendar adopted…
11.32

Important Festivals (Kheer Bhawani, Mahapushkaram, Bathukamma, Manipur Sangai Festival, Losar, Chapchar Kut, Hornbill Festival, Wangala Festival, Orange Festival Nagpur, Teesta-Rangit Tourism Festival, Ganga Sagar Mela, Nabakalebar Rath Yatra, Sankalp Parva, Paryatan Parv, Bharat Parv, Rashtriya Ekta Diwas)

Important festivals of India include Kheer Bhawani in Jammu and Kashmir, Mahapushkaram on Andhra Pradesh and Telangana rivers, Bathukamma in Telangana, the Sangai Festival in Manipur, Losar in Ladakh and Sikkim, Chapchar Kut in Mizoram, the…
11.33

Jallikattu and Kambala (Animal Sports/Festivals)

Jallikattu is a traditional bull-taming sport of Tamil Nadu, held around Mattu Pongal in January, while Kambala is a traditional buffalo race in slush paddy fields of coastal Karnataka, held between November and March. Both were…

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Frequently asked questions

Which topics are in Miscellaneous?

Miscellaneous has 33 micro topics in Art & Culture: Government Cultural Institutions in India (Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, ASI, INTACH); Museums of India (National Museum, Indian Museum Kolkata, Salar Jung Museum); UNESCO's List of Cultural Heritage in India (World Heritage Sites); UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List (Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Durga Puja, Kutiyattam, Ramlila, Vedic Chanting, Chhau Dance, Sankirtana, Buddhist Chanting of Ladakh, Nawrouz); UNESCO Creative Cities Network; UNESCO Global Geopark; Protection & Promotion of Indian Culture – Legal Provisions (AMASR Act, Antiquities Act); National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities; National Mission on Manuscripts; National Virtual Library of India; Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission; Muziris Heritage Site; Awards and Honours Associated with Culture (Padma Awards, Akademi Awards, Dadasaheb Phalke Award); International Yoga Day; Indian Handicrafts; HRIDAY; SWADESH DARSHAN; PRASAD Scheme; Adarsh Smarak Yojana; Sanskriti App; Cultural Mapping of India; Cultural Scheme Monitoring System; Schemes for Serious Literature and Litterateurs; Swachh Bharat Swachh Smarak/Paryatan; Incredible India 2.0 Campaign; Project Mausam; International Buddhist Conclave; GI Tags (Definition, GI vs Trademark, Rights, Famous Goods e.g. Darjeeling Tea, Banarasi Saree, Mysore Silk, Nagpur Orange; Latest Additions); Personalities Related to Culture; Places of Cultural Interest; The Calendar & the Eras (Saka, Vikram Samvat, Hijri); Important Festivals (Kheer Bhawani, Mahapushkaram, Bathukamma, Manipur Sangai Festival, Losar, Chapchar Kut, Hornbill Festival, Wangala Festival, Orange Festival Nagpur, Teesta-Rangit Tourism Festival, Ganga Sagar Mela, Nabakalebar Rath Yatra, Sankalp Parva, Paryatan Parv, Bharat Parv, Rashtriya Ekta Diwas); Jallikattu and Kambala (Animal Sports/Festivals).

Is Miscellaneous important for UPSC Prelims?

Miscellaneous is a part of the UPSC Prelims Art & Culture syllabus map on MaargX UPSC. Each of its 33 published topics has key terms, a Mains angle and practice questions.