Deck 15: South and Southeast Asia Before 1200

Question 1

The pillar of Ashoka with its lion capital shows the strong influence coming from which of the following groups?

A) Sumerians
B) Achaemenids
C) Greeks
D) Egyptians

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following was among the innovative concepts of the Upanishads?

A) Belief in Shiva as the multi-armed destroyer god
B) Belief in the trinity of Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi
C) Belief in an almost endless sequence of rebirths
D) Belief in the self-discipline advocated by the Buddha

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The caves of Ajanta provide evidence for which artistic genre?

A) Later South Asian relief sculpture
B) Pillared stone-carved chaitya halls
C) Early South Asian wall painting
D) Inscribed and painting stone texts

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The monolithic pillars of Ashoka are said to serve as which of the following?

A) The path to enlightenment
B) The cosmic mountain
C) The axis of the universe
D) The Wheel of the Law

Question 5

Which of the following is the site of an extensive Buddhist monastery?

A) Khajuraho
B) Thanjavur
C) Sanchi
D) Deogarh

Question 6

The Gandhara region is the home of many portrayals of which being?

A) Yakshis
B) Shiva
C) Elephants
D) Buddha

Question 7

The canonical version of statues of Buddha combines which two forms?

A) Gandharan and Mathuran
B) Mathuran and Guptan
C) Theravadan and Mahayanan
D) Northern and Southern

Question 8

What is the primary contribution of the Aryans, a mobile herding people, to the culture of India?

A) Trade
B) Metalwork
C) Agriculture
D) Religion

Question 9

The lands of which modern-day country gave birth to both Hinduism and Buddhism?

A) India
B) China
C) Cambodia
D) Nepal

Question 10

The steatite seals found in the Indus Valley resemble seals found at contemporary sites in which area?

A) Egypt
B) Mesopotamia
C) Aegean
D) Persia

Question 11

As part of its sacrifice ritual, the Aryan religion required placing what into a fire?

A) Embroidered garments
B) Milk and soma
C) Meat and wine
D) Images of the gods

Question 12

To date, what class of architecture has not been discovered in the Indus Valley?

A) Palace or temple
B) Public bathing facility
C) Marketplace
D) Domestic structure

Question 13

A chaitya hall was built to contain what object(s)?

A) Statues
B) Stupa
C) Texts
D) Vessels

Question 14

A yakshi is the personification of which of the following?

A) War and conquest
B) Famine and hunger
C) Fertility and vegetation
D) Meditation and prayer

Question 15

Which feature of the small seal discovered at Mohenjo-daro references the Indian practice of meditation?

A) Figure is making the meditation gesture
B) Figure appears in a yogic posture
C) Figure is Shiva as lord of the beasts
D) Figure is Buddha in his first incarnation

Question 16

Some of the coins that were struck by Kanishka (Kushan dynasty) were modeled on those of which period?

A) Imperial China
B) Hellenistic
C) Carolingian
D) Imperial Rome

Question 17

The Aryans composed hymns for priests that were compilations of religious learning and were called what?

A) Stupas
B) Viharas
C) Samsaras
D) Vedas

Question 18

At which site did successive Khmer kings, over more than four centuries, each build a temple mountain dedicated to his own personal god?

A) Angkor Wat, Cambodia
B) Borobudur, Java
C) Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho
D) Great Stupa, Sanchi

Question 19

Which of the following was the unifying characteristic of the regional dynasties of South Asia in the third through first centuries BCE?

A) Patronage of Shiva
B) Patronage of monasteries
C) Patronage of Vishnu
D) Patronage of Buddhism

Question 20

The Indus Civilization arose in what is now what country?

A) Afghanistan
B) Iraq
C) Pakistan
D) China

Question 21

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Which Hindu god is depicted in this relief at Badami?

A) Shiva
B) Devi
C) Ganesha
D) Vishnu

Question 22

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What is the findspot of this figure?

A) Sanchi
B) Mohenjo-daro
C) Harappa
D) Deogarh

Question 23

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What is the purpose of a chaitya hall such as this one at Karle?

A) Musical performances
B) Shelter for a stupa
C) Resting place for a monk
D) Private worship of Shiva

Question 24

What is the purpose of the figures and mithunas around the doorway of the Vishnu Temple at Deogarh?

A) To mark the transition between exterior world and sacred interior
B) To illustrate the episodes from the events in the saga of Vishnu
C) To invoke blessings and fertility for all who enter the temple
D) To serve as intermediaries to the god for people visiting the temple

Question 25

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What site appears in this image?

A) Angkor Wat, Cambodia
B) Ananda Temple, Myanmar
C) Borobudur, Java
D) Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho

Question 26

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What is the location of this Buddhist temple?

A) Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho
B) Angkor Wat, Angkor
C) Bayon, Angkor Thom
D) Stupa, Borobudur

Question 27

Which sect became the dominant Buddhism tradition in southern India, Sri Lanka, and mainland Southeast Asia?

A) Mahayana
B) Amitabha
C) Bodhisattva
D) Theravada

Question 28

The plan of the monument at Borobudur is meant to resemble which sacred form?

A) Amalaka
B) Axis mundi
C) Mandala
D) Jataka

Question 29

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To which Hindu god is this masonry temple dedicated?

A) Shiva
B) Mahadeva
C) Vishnu
D) Ganesha

Question 30

Hindu temples of the southern type most closely resemble which form?

A) Beehive
B) Stepped pyramid
C) Mountain
D) Circular mound

Question 31

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This lion capital was made during the reign of which king?

A) Dareios
B) Jayavarman VII
C) Ashoka
D) Suryavarman II

Question 32

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This rare Indus Civilization statue was found at which site?

A) Khaju-raho
B) Sumer
C) Mohenjo-daro
D) Badami

Question 33

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What god is represented by this figure?

A) Ananda
B) Harihara
C) Nataraja
D) Ganesha

Question 34

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Suryavarman II built this complex at Angkor Wat to associate himself to which Hindu god?

A) Devi
B) Shiva
C) Ganesha
D) Vishnu

Question 35

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What term is used for the gateways surrounding a stupa mound?

A) Triratna
B) Torana
C) Harmika
D) Sangha

Question 36

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What is the subject of this composite depiction of a Hindu god?

A) Shiva as Mahadeva
B) Vishnu
C) Dancing Shiva
D) Harihara

Question 37

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What is the location of this colossal sculpture of the Buddha?

A) Angkor, Cambodia
B) Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka
C) Sarnath, India
D) Ajanta, India

Question 38

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This bronze statuette represents which Hindu god?

A) Harihara
B) Shiva Nataraja
C) Avatar of Vishnu
D) Mahadevi

Question 39

The gigantic faces on the Bayon, a temple in Cambodia, reflect the adoption of which belief system?

A) Hinduism
B) Jainism
C) Buddhism
D) Mithraism

Question 40

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What event from the life of the Buddha does this figure illustrate?

A) Moment of enlightenment
B) Birth of the Buddha
C) Death of the Buddha
D) First sermon

Question 41

Which mudra appears in images of the Buddha giving his first sermon?

A) Abhaya mudra
B) Earth-touching mudra
C) Meditation mudra
D) Wheel-turning mudra

Question 42

What was the purpose of the large mounds known as stupas that appear in Buddhist sanctuaries?

A) To serve as an astronomical observatory
B) To replicate the cosmos for meditation
C) To house cremated remains of the Buddha
D) To be the tomb for local Buddhist monks

Question 43

What is the name of the mother of the Buddha, who gave birth to him through her side?

A) Thera
B) Urna
C) Maya
D) Ashoka

Question 44

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What was added to the central part of this relief to bring the story to life?

A) Candles
B) Water
C) Ribbons
D) Metal hooks

Question 45

Which site is home to the earliest Hindu stone sculpture?

A) Borobudur
B) Ajanta
C) Udayagiri
D) Deogarh

Question 46

Portable statues of Hindu gods, meant to appear in processions, are most often made of what material?

A) Bronze
B) Wood
C) Stone
D) Clay

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT a site of early Hindu stone temples and sculptures?

A) Udayagiri
B) Badami
C) Elephanta
D) Gal Vihara

Question 48

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The creative aspect of which Hindu god is depicted in this sandstone relief?

A) Vishnu
B) Shiva
C) Buddha
D) Devi

Question 49

What is the significance of the Bodhi tree in Buddhist art?

A) The Buddha was meditating beneath it when he attained enlightenment.
B) It was the tree that sheltered the mother of the Buddha as she gave birth.
C) The tree grew thin and tall, making it a symbol of the axis mundi.
D) The Bodhi tree was sacred to the many principal gods of Buddhism.

Question 50

Which Buddhist shrine in Myanmar has a shiksara that resembles those of northern Hindu temples?

A) Vishvanatha Temple
B) Ananda Temple
C) Mamallapuram
D) Bayon, Angkor Thom