About Famous Places
Famous places is a set of pairings: an Indian site with its state, and a monument elsewhere in the world with its country. The questions are factual, and the sites asked about most are the ones with a settled location and a name that suggests none.
What you need to understand
- The Indian sites are best learned state by state rather than as one list, because the question almost always asks which state a site is in.
- Uttar Pradesh holds the Taj Mahal at Agra and Fatehpur Sikri; Delhi holds the Red Fort, the Qutub Minar and India Gate.
- Maharashtra has the Gateway of India, the Ajanta and Ellora caves and the Elephanta caves; Gujarat has the Somnath temple, the Rani ki Vav stepwell, the Sabarmati Ashram, Dholavira and Lothal.
- Rajasthan has the Hawa Mahal, the Mehrangarh Fort and the Lake Palace at Udaipur; Odisha has the Sun Temple at Konark and the Jagannath Temple at Puri.
- Tamil Nadu has the Meenakshi Temple, the Brihadeeswarar Temple and Mahabalipuram; Karnataka has Hampi, the Mysore Palace and the Gol Gumbaz.
- Madhya Pradesh has the Sanchi Stupa, the Khajuraho temples and the Bhimbetka rock shelters; Bihar has the Mahabodhi Temple and Nalanda.
- West Bengal has the Victoria Memorial and the Howrah Bridge; Telangana has the Charminar and the Golconda Fort; Punjab has Jallianwala Bagh and the Golden Temple.
- The cave sites are worth grouping: Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra, Elephanta in the same state, Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh and the Barabar caves in Bihar.
- The world sites are learned by country, and several countries have more than one: France has the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Versailles, and Italy the Colosseum and Pisa.
- Some countries are represented by a single memorable site: Jordan by Petra, Cambodia by Angkor Wat, Peru by Machu Picchu and Indonesia by Borobudur.
- The sites in the United States and the United Kingdom are the ones most often confused, since both are English-speaking: the Statue of Liberty and the White House are American, Big Ben and Stonehenge are British.
- Two entries are in Vatican City, which is a country in its own right, and Easter Island belongs to Chile - two facts that questions like to test.
- Nothing here is a recent construction, and nothing depends on the year in which the paper is set.
How to work through these questions
- Learn the Indian sites state by state, and the world sites country by country. Both questions in this topic come down to a single pairing.
- For the world sites, learn a country's monuments together: France has three in the list, and so do Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey, China, Egypt, Australia and South Africa.
- Where a site is famous for a single feature - the leaning tower, the moai statues, the terracotta army - the feature is worth remembering with the country.
- Use the name as a clue. Many sites are named after the city or the ruler rather than after the country, and the name places them.
- For the Indian sites, use the region first and the state second. Ajanta and Ellora are in the Deccan, which narrows them to Maharashtra.
- Where two sites are close together, learn what distinguishes them: the Sun Temple at Konark is in Odisha while the Modhera Sun Temple is in Gujarat.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Placing the Charminar in Delhi rather than in Telangana.
- Giving Gujarat for the Sun Temple at Konark, which is in Odisha, and confusing it with the Modhera Sun Temple, which is in Gujarat.
- Mixing up the Mahabodhi Temple, which is in Bihar, with the Sanchi Stupa, which is in Madhya Pradesh.
- Answering Italy for the Acropolis, which is in Greece, or Greece for the Colosseum.
- Treating Vatican City as part of Italy; it is a separate state, and its sites are recorded that way.
- Placing Machu Picchu in Mexico rather than in Peru, and Chichen Itza in Peru rather than in Mexico.
- Giving Chile for the Moai statues without noticing that Easter Island is Chilean, which is exactly the fact being tested.
- Confusing the Indian sites that share a name with a foreign one, such as the two Sun Temples and the two Lake Palaces.
Worked example
In which state is the Konark Sun Temple?
- Konark is on the eastern coast, which places it in Odisha rather than in Gujarat, where the other Sun Temple in the list stands.
- The other Odisha entries are the Jagannath Temple at Puri, which is a short distance from Konark, and the two are often asked together.
- The Konark temple is the one built as a chariot of the sun god, with wheels carved at its base.
- Konark is in Odisha.
Answer: Odisha
Practice questions with answers
A few Famous Places questions with the full solution shown, so you can see
how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.
Question 1
Which of these states contains the Lake Palace at Udaipur?
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A
Jammu and Kashmir
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B
Punjab
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C
Bihar
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D
Rajasthan
Answer: Option D — with explanation
the Lake Palace at Udaipur is in Rajasthan.
For the Indian sites, learn them state by state rather than as one list, since the questions are almost always about which state a site is in. For the rest of the world, learn a country's monuments together, because several of them are asked about in the same breath.
Common mistakes
- this place is in another state: Jammu and Kashmir
- this place is in another state: Punjab
- this place is in another state: Bihar
Question 2
Which of these states contains the Mehrangarh Fort?
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A
Gujarat
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B
Rajasthan
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C
Telangana
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D
West Bengal
Answer: Option B — with explanation
the Mehrangarh Fort is in Rajasthan.
For the Indian sites, learn them state by state rather than as one list, since the questions are almost always about which state a site is in. For the rest of the world, learn a country's monuments together, because several of them are asked about in the same breath.
Common mistakes
- this place is in another state: West Bengal
- this place is in another state: Telangana
- this place is in another state: Gujarat
Question 3
Mahabalipuram is in which of these states?
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A
Telangana
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B
Gujarat
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C
Tamil Nadu
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D
Jammu and Kashmir
Answer: Option C — with explanation
Mahabalipuram is in Tamil Nadu.
For the Indian sites, learn them state by state rather than as one list, since the questions are almost always about which state a site is in. For the rest of the world, learn a country's monuments together, because several of them are asked about in the same breath.
Common mistakes
- this place is in another state: Telangana
- this place is in another state: Jammu and Kashmir
- this place is in another state: Gujarat
Question 4
the Victoria Memorial is in which of these states?
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A
Telangana
-
B
West Bengal
-
C
Odisha
-
D
Delhi
Answer: Option B — with explanation
the Victoria Memorial is in West Bengal.
For the Indian sites, learn them state by state rather than as one list, since the questions are almost always about which state a site is in. For the rest of the world, learn a country's monuments together, because several of them are asked about in the same breath.
Common mistakes
- this place is in another state: Odisha
- this place is in another state: Telangana
- this place is in another state: Delhi
Question 5
the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in which of these countries?
-
A
Italy
-
B
Greece
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C
the United States
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D
Chile
Answer: Option A — with explanation
the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Italy.
For the Indian sites, learn them state by state rather than as one list, since the questions are almost always about which state a site is in. For the rest of the world, learn a country's monuments together, because several of them are asked about in the same breath.
Common mistakes
- this place is in another country: Greece
- this place is in another country: the United States
- this place is in another country: Chile
Frequently asked questions
Why are Indian and foreign sites treated separately?
Because the questions ask about a state in one case and a country in the other. Mixing them would give options of two different kinds, and the question would be easier than it should be.
How many sites do I need?
About forty Indian sites and forty elsewhere cover what papers ask. The Indian ones cluster in a few states, and the foreign ones in about twenty countries.
Are any of these places disputed?
No. The sites chosen are the ones whose location is settled and whose name does not change. Places that a paper might locate differently have been left out.
What about sites in Indian Union territories?
They are recorded with the territory rather than with a state, which is why questions about them name the territory. The table uses the state or territory as it is now named.
Where does this topic appear in a paper?
In the general knowledge sections of bank, SSC and railway papers, and in the general studies papers of state examinations. The Indian sites are asked about more often than the foreign ones.
