Tamizh Quiz 1.

0
Prelims

Quizmaster
Harish S
 Rules
 Vanakkam 
 25 questions in the prelims.
 No negs. So feel free to guess.
 Q1-20 carry 1 point each
 Q21 to 25 are star marked questions which carry 2
points each.
 No cell phones/googling please.
 Top 6 teams battle it out in the finals.
 Bonus points and part points are at QM’s discretion.
 QM is human and sometimes prone to errors.
 Q1

 X means ‘self-speak’ or one’s own speech.

 X is one of the few Tamizh words which has
all forms of phonemes-The nasal, The Hard
vowel and the Medium vowel.
 X was first mentioned in Tholkaapiyam, but
surprisingly, the word is never mentioned in
Thirukkural.

Gimme X.
 Q1

Thamizh!

தமிழ்

 த-வல்லினம்
 மி-மெல்லினம்
 ழ்-இடையினம்
 Q2
 The Velliangiri Mountains are a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and
situated on the Western Ghats border of Coimbatore District. It has many
legends associated with it, especially from the Mahabharatha.
 There are places in the hills called the Draupadi Palam, Bheeman Kali
Urundai, Andi Sunai etc.,
 One interesting story is that, when the Pandavas were in exile into the
forests, they ventured out into the country in disguise. They were
travelling near the place called Dharapuram, and one of the
Dhuryodhana's men identified the Pandavas and went on to inform
Dhuryodhana. The place where the Pandavas were found is called
Kandidam [Kanda (Found) + Idam (Place)], which later got transformed to
Kundadam. When the Pandavas came to know that they were identified
by Dhuryodhana's men, they retreated back into the Velliangiri forest. The
place where they turned back and retreated is now called as __________.
 Q2

 Thiruppur
[Thiruppu- (turn back) + Oor - (Place)]
 Q3
“Brimming Sea drapes exuberant Dame Earth!
Beautified face; the exalted sub-continent!
Aesthetic Thilak on thy beauteous curved forehead!
Fragrance of Thilak maketh entire world delirious!
Spreads in all directions Thine fervour too!
Many a life! Many a world! Creations of Thine!
Ever pervading Creator! Ever as Thy have been!
Ever remain afresh Thee alone! Purity intact!
Praise thou beauteous, a Virgin forever!
Awestruck!Praise unto thee! Praise unto thee!”

What is this a rough translation of?

 Q3
Thamizh Thaai Vaazhthu
Author- Kavimani Thesika Vinayagam Pillai

“ நீராரும் கடல் உடுத்த நில மடந்தைக் கெழிலொழுகும்

சீராரும் வதனமெனத் திகழ்பரதக் கண்டமிதில்

தெக்கணமும் அதிற்சிறந்த திராவிட நல் திருநாடும்

தக்கசிறு பிறைநுதலும் தரித்தநறும் திலகமுமே!

அத்திலக வாசனைபோல் அனைத்துலகும் இன்பமுற,

எத்திசையும் புகழ்மணக்க இருந்த பெரும் தமிழணங்கே!

தமிழணங்கே!

௨ன் சீரிளமைத் திறம்வியந்து

செயல் மறந்து வாழ்த்துதுமே!

வாழ்த்துதுமே!
வாழ்த்துதுமே! “
 Q4

• X is a tamizh word for the ethnic group

Yadava. Similar to its sanskrit counterpart, it
means both king and herdsmen.
• X is referred to as Ayars in ancient Tamizh
literature.
• Ilango Adigal gave special mention to X as
they provided accomodation for Kannagi.

Id X.
 Q4

Konaar
 Q5

Print Ad for what?

Q5
 Q6

 நேர் நேர் தேமா is a book written by Neeya Naana

Gopinath containing a series of interviews,
stressing on the importance of following rules.
 நேர் நேர் தேமா is actually part of a set of well
defined metric rules to be followed while writing
this form of poetry.
 All 1330 couplets of Thirukkural are of this type.

What type of poetry?

 Q6

 Venbaa
 Q7
 Gloriosa is a genus of ten species in
the plant family Colchicaceae, and include the formerly
recognized genus Littonia. They are native in tropical and
southern Africa to Asia, and naturalized in Australia and
the Pacific as well as being widely cultivated. The most
common English names are flame lily, fire lily, gloriosa
lily, glory lily, superb lily, climbing lily, and creeping lily.
 The proposed state of Eelam has announced it as their
state flower and as such is displayed during Mahaveerar
Day. This cause inspired something in India.
 What?
Q7

Kaarthigai Poo.
It was announced as
Tamilnadu’s State
Flower.
 Q8

 Kodungallur Bhagavati Temple is a Hindu

temple at  Thrissur, Kerala state.
 The idol of the goddess Bhadrakali in the
temple is unique as it has eight hands
with various attributes. One is holding
the head of an Asura, another a sword,
next an anklet, another a bell,and so on.
 The temple is associated with the
martyrdom of a person who is now
worshipped as Bhagavathy Amman.
 Who?
 Q8

 Kannagi
 Q9
 ZENO OF ELEA was a 5th century Greek mathematician
and philosopher of the Eleatic school, known for his
philosophical paradoxes.
 A novelist named S.Rangarajan was inspired by him and
named a ‘dog’ in his novel as Zeno leading to a
widespread dog naming spree as ‘Zeno’ across
Tamilnadu.
 The novel was adapted into a film with widespread
critical acclaim. The film also featured a reference to
Zeno’s paradox as a homage to the novelist.

ID the novel and the film.

Q9
 Q10

List of what and FITB.

 1. ____________
 2. Ayatollah Khomeini
 3. Pope John Paul II
 4. Umm Kulthum
 5. Gamal Abdel Nasser
 6. Diana, Princess of Wales
 7. Victor- Marie Hugo
 8. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Q10

C N ANNADURAI

World’s largest funeral

gatherings.
He created a guinness world
record when 15 million people
attended his funeral gathering
 Q11
 The poem written in the display board of this French Train is a part of which original
work?

 If it helps, the english translation is:

“Like my lady's face if you shine 
All my love to you; hail O moon!”
 Q11

 Vers sacrés aka Thirukkural _/\_

 “மாதர் முகம்போல் ஒளிவிட வல்லையேல்
  காதலை வாழி மதி”
 Q12
• The Gestalt effect maintains that the human eye sees objects in
their entirety before perceiving their individual parts, suggesting
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. 
• The gestalt effect is found in ancient Chola art. An elephant and a
bull are depicted in a single sculpture, and what one views
depends on the perception of the person.

• Replicated worldwide in various

art forms, this was first sculpted
in which temple?
Q12

Airavateeshwara Temple,
Darasuram.
 Q13
 X is a musician and a poet, who composed 5818 poems breathing universal
love and peace, compiled into 6 Tirumuraigal.
 X’s address: 31/14 Veerasamy Pillai Street, Sevenwalls, Chennai 600001
 In his poem 'Gnana Sariyai’, he claimed he would be united with Nature and
rule the actions of 'all of the alls’. As a demonstration of this, he entered a
room, locked himself in and told his followers not to open it. He said that
even if they did open it they would find nothing. His seclusion spurred many
rumors, and the Government finally forced the doors open in May. The
room was empty, with no clues. The Madras District Gazetteer published by
the South Arcot District in 1906 records his disappearance.
 X is still presumed not dead and his disappearance is widely believed to be a
rare case of Spontaneous Human Combustion.

 Id X.
 Q13

 Chidambaram Ramalinga Adigalaar aka

Vallalaar.
 Q14

Whose tweet?
Q14
 Q15

 X made its debut in the year 2002 on the occasion of the

Football World Cup.
 The Programme was conceived, devised, planned and first
produced by Shri. P.S. Parameswaran . The show has on an
average received calls from more than 30,000 viewers
and also 3,000 e-mails per show. It reaches around 83
countries.
 X has now entered the Limca Book of records as the
longest running weekly ____ show on television in India. X?
 BSNL Sports Quiz, Podhigai.
 Q16

Whose handwriting?
Q16
 Q17
 “ஓடிய நீளந்தன்னை ஓரெட்டு கூறதாக்கி கூற்றிலே ஒன்று தள்ளி 
குன்றத்தில் பாதி சேர்த்தால் வருவது கர்ணம் தானே”
 The direct translation of this verse:
“Divide the distance you've run (longer side) into 8 equal
parts and discard one part from it. Then if you add half the
height to that, you'll get the karnam”
 This verse supposedly known to the ancient tamizh
masons was the ‘formula’ to calculate the ‘karnam’ which
was essential to design inclined planes.
 Mathematically, this is a close approximation to what we
follow today.
 What?
 Q17
 Pythagoras Theorem

 example 1: Take a Right angled triangle with sides 3 and

4 units.
Now as per the poem,
Hypotenuse = (7/8)*4 + 3/2 =5.

 example 2, take a Right angled triangle with sides 3 and 6

Hypotenuse = (7/8)*6 + 3/2 = 6.75
By the actual pythagorian theorem, Hypotenuse =
SQRT(6^2 + 3^2) = 6.71
 Q18
Connect.
 Q18

List of English words of Tamizh Origin

 Anaconda- Yaanai kondran
 Cheetah- Siruthai
 Cash- Kaasu
 Mango- Maangaai
 Ginger- Inji
 Q19

What is/are represented using the following

in a famous music album of A.R.Rahman?

Stumps and balls

Tractor on mud
Oil Savouries
Plowed Grassland
Kolam on Staircase
 Q19

Tamil alphabets
 Q20
“ DEEP in the south of India lie the spectacular remains of one of the world's most
remarkable and most forgotten civilisations. In its heyday it was one of the half-
dozen greatest powers on Earth. It controlled half a million square miles - more than
five times the size of Britain. And under its wing literacy and the arts flourished.
Yet today, 1,000 years later, the _________ is remembered only by a handful of
specialist historians. If it had been European, or had given its name to some still-
surviving nation, things might be different. But despite 400 years of glory, the
__________ disappeared from history; a sad fate for a civilisation which was among
the most remarkable produced by the medieval world. Yet now they are forgotten,
their achievements ignored by the world. There is not one book in print on the
__________; nor a travel-company tour to most of their extraordinary temples.”

This article was published in The Independent by a renowned historian David Keys.

What is Blanked Out?

.
 Q20
 The Chola Empire
 Q21*
 A sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often
given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from
a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is
familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real
name without the need of explanation. This salient
characteristic is of sufficient familiarity that the sobriquet
can become more familiar than the original name.

 ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is a sobriquet given to whom?

 Why was he given this title?
 Q21*

 Raja Raja Chola I

 Q22*

This poem from moodhurai written by

Avvaiyaar forms the basis of a famous
household proverb. FITB
“மானம் குலம் கல்வி வன்மை அறிவுடைமை
தானம் தவம் உயர்ச்சி தலண்மை-தேனின்
கசிவந்த சொல்லியர்மேல் காமுறுதல் பத்தும்
_____________ __________ ______”
 Q22*

பசிவந்திட பறந்து போம்.

The Proverb:
பசி வந்திட பத்தும் பறந்து போகும்!
 Q23*

 ID and what Indian first did they achieve?

 Q23*

 Baba Aprajith and Baba Indrajith

 First identical twins to represent a state in
Ranji Trophy.
 Q24*

• “I was invited to the felicitation ceremony of Naamakkal Kavignar. On the way

from Salem to Naamakkal, I saw a deer in a cave. But when I inquired my driver,
he said it was merely an illusion. I couldn’t believe it. It appeared so real. I insisted
to visit the cave and was disappointed to see mere darkness in the cave. There
was no deer. Then I realised, every person sees such an illusory deer in their lives.
And they chase it with such a passion only to end up with disappointment.”

• This formed the inspiration for a not so popular novel Y by a popular

Tamizh novelist X in his own words.

• The place of illusory deer exists even today. The name of the place is the
title of the novel.

Give the name of the novel and its author.

Q24*
 Q24*

X-Kalki Krishnamurthy
Y-Poimaan Karadu
 Q25*
 X was a Pandyan king whose reign lasted from 710CE
to 735CE
 He was the son and successor of Arikesi Maravarman.
 He subdued all other kings-Cheras, Cholas and
Marathas, Chalukyas, the Ay chieftains and established
a stable empire.
 X literally means a king with a matted hair, although
some claim it to be a name of Lord Shiva.

On a totally different context, what is X’s claim to fame?

 Q25*
Kochadaiyaan Ranadhiran