The diversity of India is also visible in its ART FORMS AND CULTURAL ASPECTS.

There is so much under the roof of art and culture section that if one wants to cover this section in its length and breadth then she may not be able to do justice with her UPSC preparation if COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS is done.

So I would suggest a strategy that I followed for ART AND CULTURE

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

1.Ancient history NCERT (old) Click here

2.Spectrum book for Indian Culture

3.Nitin Singhania notes/ Book [Link Given Below]

HINDI Book – Click here

ENGLISH Book [2nd Edition]

ENGLISH Notes – Click here

4.Previous year upsc questions on art and culture for Prelims and mains

5.Mock test series

6.News paper(It is the core of UPSC preparation for all sections)

THE STRATEGY :

FOR UPSC PRELIMS

NOTE: YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THOSE 97% QUESTIONS ON ART AND CULTURE WHICH MOST PEOPLE WHO QUALIFY PRELIMS WOULD ANSWER CORRECT AND LEAVE THOSE 3% QUESTIONS WHICH MOST WILL MARK WRONG OR WOULD NOT BE KNOWING

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STEP 1: Go through the previous year upsc prelims papers since beginning and note down the topics on which questions have been asked.

STEP 2: Now read the full ancient ncert and while reading mark those topics in it using a highlighter which you have noted down(try to make short notes if possible)

STEP 3: Similarly give a reading to spectrum and nitin singhnia notes and do the same.

you will realize that upsc focusses on mostly a handful of topics such as architecture,temple styles,jainism and buddhism etc which have to be prepared well through these sources

STEP 4 : make some smart notes.For example I made use of maps to make things simple and easy to learn and revise.

STEP 5: Solve prelims mock test series of any one institute(i solved insights on india tests) and note down those points from it which are new to you.

STEP 6: Now revise and revise and revise these marked sources or the notes that you have made and the previous year upsc questions as they are mostly repeated in a twisted form(my personal experience)

REMEMBER:Those 97% questions will surely be asked from these sources only(directly or indirectly).You only need to clear prelims and not top it.Reserve your energy for the mains stage.

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FOR UPSC MAINS

NOTE: YOU should attempt all the questions in mains even if you have not read about them because answers in mains stage have a high amount of subjectivity and there is also an element of luck. So don’t leave any question blank.

STRATEGY

STEP 1-For static questions revise the above sources OR notes made in prelims repeatedly

STEP 2– Refer mains UPSC questions of previous years(YOU WILL BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT MOST STATIC QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED IN PREVIOUS 3 YEARS WERE REPEATED FROM PREVIOUS YEARS)

STEP 3– For dynamic questions which are new to everyone you should learn toapply your wisdom developed during lifelong learning.for example a upsc question on significance of flute playing krishna theme in indian art was new to 99.99% students. So such a question has to be answered from a general wisdom like its economic significance as it is a source of earning and livelihood for indian artists mainly during festive seasons.Similarly regional significance,religious significance,romantic significance,social significance,international significance(iskcon etc).

STEP 4: Join a test series to develop synchronisation between your hand and mind,increase your writing speed,test your wisdom to answer dynamic questions in the exam hall etc .

REMEMBER: In recent years the questions asked in mains are more dynamic and therefore require use of your general wisdom and application your learning during the preparation phase in an integrated(social,economic,political,cultural tc aspects) manner

MY ADVICE:-MOST IMPORTANT THING IS REVISION AND WRITING PRACTICE.WITHOUT THEM IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO RECALL IMPORTANT POINTERS REQUIRED TO WRITE AN ANSWER.

I TACKLED ART AND CULTURE SECTION THROUGH THIS APPROACH.

ReadNitin Singhania Book according to This

xaam.in

How to Prepare Art and Culture for UPSC 2020?

ReadNitin Singhania Book according to This