Martial Arts, Puppetry & Regional Cuisine of India

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter covers three topics SSC and RRB treat as short, factual one-liners rather than long passages, which makes them high-value for quick revision. Martial arts questions almost always test the state-origin match ("Kalaripayattu belongs to which state"), puppetry questions test the type-of-puppet-to-state match (string, shadow, rod, glove), and cuisine questions test the dish-to-state or ingredient-to- region match. Expect 2 to 3 questions from this chapter in a typical SSC CGL/CHSL/MTS paper and a similar share in RRB NTPC and Group D, usually phrased as "X is a martial art of which state" or "Y is a famous shadow puppet form of which state".

The sub-topics that repeat most are Kalaripayattu (Kerala, called the oldest martial art of India), Chhau dance-martial hybrid (already partly covered under folk dance but worth cross-checking here), the four classical shadow puppet traditions (Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala), and state-to-signature-dish tables for cuisine. Learn each martial art and puppet form with exactly one state and one distinguishing feature; do not try to memorise long descriptions, since exams test the match, not the detail.

1. Indian Martial Art Forms — State by State

India has a set of indigenous martial traditions that predate colonial- era sport, most of them rooted in a specific region and often performed with music or as part of local festivals. SSC treats each as a one-line fact: name, home state, and one identifying feature (weapon used, body movement, or festival link).

Martial art	State/Region	Key feature
Kalaripayattu	Kerala	Often called India's oldest martial art; uses body conditioning, weapons (sword, shield, spear) and bare-hand combat; "kalari" means training ground
Gatka	Punjab	Sikh martial art performed with sticks or swords, closely tied to Sikh warrior tradition and displayed at Hola Mohalla
Silambam	Tamil Nadu	Uses a bamboo staff; among the oldest staff-fighting forms, believed to have influenced other Southeast Asian martial arts
Thang-Ta	Manipur	Meitei martial art using sword (thang) and spear (ta); has an armed and an unarmed (Sarit Sarak) component
Mardani Khel	Maharashtra	Traditional Maratha weapon-based martial art using sword, dagger (bichwa) and other weapons, linked to Maratha military training
Pari-Khanda	Bihar (Chhau belt)	Sword-and-shield form practised by Rajputs of Bihar; considered a base for the martial movements later absorbed into Chhau dance
Lathi Khela	West Bengal, Bihar, UP	Stick-fighting (lathi) folk martial art, performed at rural festivals
Inbuan Wrestling	Mizoram	Traditional wrestling with fixed rules on grip, popular at Mizoram festivals
Musti Yuddha	Varanasi, UP	Traditional bare-knuckle boxing form, one of the oldest combat sports in India
Sqay	Jammu & Kashmir	Sword-and-shield martial art of Kashmir, now also practised as a modern competitive sport
Kuttu Varisai	Tamil Nadu	Unarmed combat form, often trained alongside Silambam
Cheibi Gad-ga	Manipur	Manipuri sword-fighting form performed in ceremonial contexts

SSC tip: Kalaripayattu-Kerala and Gatka-Punjab are the two most commonly asked pairs. Silambam-Tamil Nadu and Thang-Ta-Manipur come next in frequency.

Kalaripayattu in a little more depth

Kalaripayattu is widely described as one of the oldest surviving martial art systems in the world, with roots traced to ancient Kerala. Training happens in a pit called a kalari, and the system covers unarmed combat, weapon combat, and a body-conditioning phase using oil massage (uzhichil). It has influenced Kerala's performing arts too; some Kathakali body movements are said to draw on Kalaripayattu training.

2. Puppetry Traditions of India

Indian puppetry is grouped into four broad types by how the puppet is operated: string puppets (marionettes), shadow puppets (flat leather figures shown against a lit screen), rod puppets (moved with rods from below or behind), and glove puppets (worn on the hand like a glove). Each type is associated with specific states.

Type	Form	State
String puppet	Kathputli	Rajasthan
String puppet	Gombeyatta	Karnataka
String puppet	Bommalattam	Tamil Nadu
String puppet	Putul Nautch	West Bengal
Shadow puppet	Tholu Bommalata	Andhra Pradesh/Telangana
Shadow puppet	Ravanchhaya	Odisha
Shadow puppet	Togalu Gombeyatta	Karnataka
Shadow puppet	Tholpavakoothu	Kerala
Rod puppet	Putul Nautch (rod form)	West Bengal
Rod puppet	Yampuri	Bihar
Glove puppet	Pavakathakali	Kerala
Glove puppet	Gopalila	Odisha

String puppets (marionettes)

Kathputli, from Rajasthan, is the best-known Indian string puppet form. The puppets are carved from a single piece of wood, have no legs (the costume hides this), and are controlled by strings tied directly to the puppeteer's fingers rather than a control bar, which is unusual compared to other string puppet traditions worldwide. Karnataka's Gombeyatta uses jointed puppets that can move more realistically and is closely linked in style to the Yakshagana theatre form. Tamil Nadu's Bommalattam is known for using some of the largest and heaviest puppets in Indian puppetry, requiring more than one puppeteer at times.

Shadow puppets

Shadow puppetry uses flat leather figures, painted and perforated, held against an illuminated screen from behind so the audience watches their moving shadows. Tholu Bommalata (Andhra Pradesh/Telangana) uses large, colourful, translucent leather puppets. Ravanchhaya (Odisha) is unusual because the puppets are made from a single piece of deer hide with no joints, so the figures cast a sharper, more angular shadow, and the stories are drawn mainly from the Odia Ramayana tradition. Togalu Gombeyatta (Karnataka) and Tholpavakoothu (Kerala, performed inside temple premises as a ritual art linked to Bhadrakali temples) are the other two major shadow forms.

Rod and glove puppets

Yampuri, from Bihar, is a rod puppet tradition using jointless wooden puppets that are held from below by a central rod alone, unlike Bengal's rod puppets which have jointed limbs worked by additional rods. Pavakathakali, Kerala's glove puppet form, borrows costume, make-up style and stories from the Kathakali dance-drama tradition, which is why it carries the "Kathakali" name.

3. Regional Cuisine of India — State by State

Indian regional cuisine questions are almost always simple match questions: a dish name, a state, and sometimes the main ingredient or occasion. The table below lists the dishes most frequently seen in SSC/RRB GA papers.

State	Signature dish(es)	Note
Punjab	Sarson ka saag with makki di roti, Chole Bhature	Wheat and mustard-belt cuisine, dairy-heavy
Rajasthan	Dal Baati Churma, Gatte ki Sabzi, Ker Sangri	Low-water desert cuisine using gram flour and dried beans/berries
Gujarat	Dhokla, Thepla, Undhiyu	Predominantly vegetarian, mild sweet-savoury balance
Maharashtra	Puran Poli, Vada Pav, Misal Pav	Vada Pav is Mumbai's iconic street food
Goa	Fish Curry Rice, Vindaloo, Bebinca	Portuguese-influenced, seafood and vinegar-based marination
Kerala	Appam with stew, Puttu, Sadya (banana-leaf feast)	Coconut and rice-based; Sadya served during Onam
Tamil Nadu	Idli, Dosa, Sambar, Pongal (dish)	Rice-and-lentil fermented staples
Andhra Pradesh/Telangana	Hyderabadi Biryani, Gongura Pachadi	Known for chilli-forward, tangy flavours
Karnataka	Bisi Bele Bath, Mysore Pak, Ragi Mudde	Ragi (finger millet) staple in rural Karnataka
West Bengal	Shorshe Ilish, Rasgulla, Sandesh	Mustard and fish-based cuisine; Rasgulla has a GI tag dispute settled with both West Bengal and Odisha getting separate GI tags for their own variants
Odisha	Pakhala, Chhena Poda	Fermented rice water dish (Pakhala) is a summer staple
Bihar	Litti Chokha, Sattu preparations	Litti (baked wheat balls) with Chokha (mashed vegetable)
Uttar Pradesh	Tunday Kabab (Lucknow), Petha (Agra)	Awadhi cuisine known for slow-cooked (dum) preparations
Kashmir	Rogan Josh, Wazwan (multi-course feast)	Wazwan can include over a dozen meat courses at formal occasions
Assam	Khar, Masor Tenga (sour fish curry)	Khar uses a filtered alkaline ash-water base, a unique regional ingredient
Nagaland/NE states	Fermented bamboo shoot dishes, Axone	Fermented soybean (Axone) is a Naga staple
Himachal Pradesh	Dham, Siddu	Dham is a festive multi-dish meal served on leaf plates
Madhya Pradesh	Poha, Bhutte ka Kees	Poha is Indore's iconic breakfast street food

SSC tip: Watch for questions naming a dish and asking the state, or naming a state and asking which dish does NOT belong to it. The most commonly confused pairs are Rasgulla (both West Bengal and Odisha claim origin, and both hold separate GI tags), and Biryani styles (Hyderabadi vs Lucknowi/Awadhi vs Kolkata biryani, each with a distinct cooking method).

4. GI Tags Linked to Food (Quick Cross-Reference)

A few food items have Geographical Indication (GI) tags that are commonly tested alongside cuisine questions.

Item	State	GI status note
Darjeeling Tea	West Bengal	Among the first Indian products to get a GI tag, 2004-05
Basmati Rice	Indo-Gangetic belt (Punjab, Haryana, parts of UP, Uttarakhand, Delhi, HP, J&K)	GI-tagged; a long India-Pakistan/EU dispute over shared claim to the name
Tirupati Laddu	Andhra Pradesh	GI-tagged temple prasad
Bikaneri Bhujia	Rajasthan	GI-tagged snack
Hyderabadi Haleem	Telangana	GI-tagged dish, unusual as a GI tag for a cooked dish rather than a raw product
Rosogolla (West Bengal)	West Bengal	GI tag granted in 2017
Odisha Rasagola	Odisha	Separate GI tag granted in 2019, distinct from the Bengal version

5. Cross-Links to Other Chapters

Chhau (a martial-dance hybrid from Odisha/Jharkhand/West Bengal) is covered in the folk dance chapter, not here, since exams usually ask about it as a dance form. Yakshagana (Karnataka), a theatre form closely tied to puppetry style, is also cross-tested; if you see a Yakshagana question in a puppetry set, remember it is primarily a dance-drama, and Gombeyatta puppetry copies its visual style rather than the other way round.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Kalaripayattu, from Kerala, is often called India's oldest martial art; training happens in a pit called a kalari.
• Gatka is Punjab's Sikh martial art, performed with sticks or swords and displayed at Hola Mohalla.
• Silambam (Tamil Nadu) is a staff-fighting martial art using a bamboo stick.
• Thang-Ta (Manipur) uses sword (thang) and spear (ta) and has an unarmed component called Sarit Sarak.
• Mardani Khel is a Maratha weapon-based martial art from Maharashtra.
• Pari-Khanda, from Bihar, is a sword-and-shield form linked to the origins of Chhau dance movements.
• Lathi Khela is a stick-fighting folk martial art of West Bengal, Bihar and UP.
• Sqay is a sword-and-shield martial art of Jammu & Kashmir.
• Inbuan Wrestling is a traditional wrestling style of Mizoram.
• Kathputli, Rajasthan's string puppet form, uses puppets carved from a single piece of wood with no legs.
• Gombeyatta (Karnataka) is a jointed string puppet form linked in style to Yakshagana theatre.
• Bommalattam (Tamil Nadu) is known for its unusually large, heavy puppets.
• Tholu Bommalata is Andhra Pradesh/Telangana's shadow puppet form, using large leather puppets.
• Ravanchhaya, Odisha's shadow puppet form, uses jointless puppets cut from a single piece of deer hide.
• Togalu Gombeyatta is Karnataka's shadow puppet tradition.
• Tholpavakoothu, Kerala's shadow puppet form, is performed as a temple ritual linked to Bhadrakali worship.
• Yampuri, Bihar's rod puppet form, uses jointless puppets moved by a single rod from below.
• Pavakathakali, Kerala's glove puppet form, borrows its costume and stories from Kathakali.
• Sarson ka saag with makki di roti is Punjab's signature winter dish.
• Dal Baati Churma is Rajasthan's classic dry-region dish.
• Vada Pav is Mumbai's iconic street food from Maharashtra.
• Sadya, a banana-leaf vegetarian feast, is served in Kerala during Onam.
• Hyderabadi Biryani is Telangana's most famous dish, cooked by the dum (slow-steam) method.
• Litti Chokha is Bihar's signature combination of baked wheat balls and mashed vegetables.
• Rasgulla has two separate GI tags, one for West Bengal (2017) and one for Odisha (2019).
• Darjeeling Tea was among the first Indian products to receive a GI tag, around 2004-05.
• Tirupati Laddu carries a GI tag as a temple prasad item from Andhra Pradesh.
• Wazwan is Kashmir's elaborate multi-course feast that can include over a dozen meat dishes.
• Khar, an Assamese dish, is made using a filtered alkaline ash-water base as its distinguishing ingredient.
• Axone is a fermented soybean staple of Naga cuisine.
• Poha is Indore's (Madhya Pradesh) iconic breakfast street food.

Memory Tables

Table A: Martial Art → State → Key Feature

Martial art	State	Key feature
Kalaripayattu	Kerala	Oldest Indian martial art; trained in a kalari pit
Gatka	Punjab	Sikh stick/sword martial art, shown at Hola Mohalla
Silambam	Tamil Nadu	Bamboo staff fighting
Thang-Ta	Manipur	Sword and spear, plus unarmed Sarit Sarak
Mardani Khel	Maharashtra	Maratha sword and dagger training
Pari-Khanda	Bihar	Sword-shield form, root of Chhau movements
Lathi Khela	West Bengal/Bihar/UP	Stick fighting at rural festivals
Inbuan Wrestling	Mizoram	Traditional grip-rule wrestling
Sqay	Jammu & Kashmir	Sword and shield, now a modern sport too
Musti Yuddha	Varanasi, UP	Bare-knuckle boxing

Table B: Puppet Type → Form → State

Type	Form	State
String	Kathputli	Rajasthan
String	Gombeyatta	Karnataka
String	Bommalattam	Tamil Nadu
Shadow	Tholu Bommalata	Andhra Pradesh/Telangana
Shadow	Ravanchhaya	Odisha
Shadow	Togalu Gombeyatta	Karnataka
Shadow	Tholpavakoothu	Kerala
Rod	Yampuri	Bihar
Glove	Pavakathakali	Kerala

Table C: State → Signature Dish → GI/Note

State	Signature dish	GI/Note
Punjab	Sarson ka saag, makki di roti	Mustard-wheat winter staple
Rajasthan	Dal Baati Churma	Low-water desert cuisine
Kerala	Sadya	Banana-leaf feast, served at Onam
Telangana	Hyderabadi Haleem	GI-tagged cooked dish
West Bengal	Rosogolla	GI tag, 2017
Odisha	Rasagola	Separate GI tag, 2019
Bihar	Litti Chokha	Baked wheat balls with mashed vegetable
Jammu & Kashmir	Wazwan	Multi-course meat feast
Assam	Khar	Alkaline ash-water base dish
Andhra Pradesh	Tirupati Laddu	GI-tagged temple prasad

Practice MCQs

Q1. Kalaripayattu, often called India's oldest martial art, originated in which state? (a) Tamil Nadu (b) Kerala (c) Karnataka (d) Andhra Pradesh

Q2. Gatka, a Sikh martial art performed with sticks or swords, is traditionally displayed at which occasion? (a) Baisakhi only (b) Hola Mohalla (c) Guru Nanak Jayanti only (d) Lohri

Q3. Silambam, a martial art using a bamboo staff, belongs to which state? (a) Kerala (b) Tamil Nadu (c) Odisha (d) Manipur

Q4. Thang-Ta, the Manipuri martial art, uses which two weapons in its name? (a) Sword and shield (b) Sword and spear (c) Staff and dagger (d) Bow and arrow

Q5. Which martial art is traditionally linked to Maratha weapon training and uses weapons like the sword and the bichwa dagger? (a) Gatka (b) Mardani Khel (c) Pari-Khanda (d) Sqay

Q6. Kathputli, the string puppet tradition, is associated with which state? (a) Punjab (b) Rajasthan (c) Gujarat (d) Haryana

Q7. Which shadow puppet form is unique for using puppets cut from a single piece of deer hide with no joints? (a) Tholu Bommalata (b) Togalu Gombeyatta (c) Ravanchhaya (d) Tholpavakoothu

Q8. Match the puppet form with its state: 1. Gombeyatta, 2. Yampuri, 3. Pavakathakali, 4. Bommalattam, with A. Bihar, B. Karnataka, C. Kerala, D. Tamil Nadu. (a) 1-B, 2-A, 3-C, 4-D (b) 1-C, 2-B, 3-A, 4-D (c) 1-B, 2-D, 3-A, 4-C (d) 1-D, 2-A, 3-B, 4-C

Q9. Tholpavakoothu, Kerala's shadow puppet tradition, is traditionally performed as a ritual art linked to which deity's temples? (a) Ayyappa (b) Bhadrakali (c) Krishna (d) Shiva

Q10. Which of the following is Rajasthan's signature dry-region dish? (a) Dhokla (b) Dal Baati Churma (c) Litti Chokha (d) Puran Poli

Q11. Sadya, a vegetarian banana-leaf feast, is traditionally served during which festival and in which state? (a) Pongal, Tamil Nadu (b) Onam, Kerala (c) Bihu, Assam (d) Ugadi, Andhra Pradesh

Q12. Which two states hold separate GI tags for their own versions of Rasgulla? (a) Bihar and Jharkhand (b) West Bengal and Odisha (c) Assam and West Bengal (d) Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

Q13. Which of the following statements about Yampuri puppetry is correct? (a) It is a string puppet form from Rajasthan (b) It is a shadow puppet form from Odisha (c) It is a jointless rod puppet form from Bihar (d) It is a glove puppet form from Kerala

Q14. Wazwan, the elaborate multi-course meat feast, is a tradition of which region? (a) Punjab (b) Kashmir (c) Rajasthan (d) Himachal Pradesh

Q15. Which of the following martial-art-to-state pairs is INCORRECTLY matched? (a) Silambam — Tamil Nadu (b) Thang-Ta — Manipur (c) Sqay — Jammu & Kashmir (d) Mardani Khel — Punjab

Answer Key

Q	Answer	One-line reason
1	(b)	Kalaripayattu is Kerala's ancient martial art, trained in a kalari pit.
2	(b)	Gatka is prominently displayed at Hola Mohalla in Punjab.
3	(b)	Silambam is Tamil Nadu's bamboo-staff martial art.
4	(b)	Thang-Ta combines thang (sword) and ta (spear).
5	(b)	Mardani Khel is Maharashtra's Maratha weapon-training tradition.
6	(b)	Kathputli is Rajasthan's string puppet form.
7	(c)	Ravanchhaya (Odisha) uniquely uses jointless single-piece deer-hide puppets.
8	(a)	Gombeyatta-Karnataka, Yampuri-Bihar, Pavakathakali-Kerala, Bommalattam-Tamil Nadu.
9	(b)	Tholpavakoothu is performed as a ritual linked to Bhadrakali temples in Kerala.
10	(b)	Dal Baati Churma is Rajasthan's classic dish suited to a low-water region.
11	(b)	Sadya is served in Kerala during the Onam festival.
12	(b)	West Bengal (2017) and Odisha (2019) hold separate Rasgulla GI tags.
13	(c)	Yampuri is Bihar's jointless rod puppet form.
14	(b)	Wazwan is Kashmir's traditional multi-course feast.
15	(d)	Mardani Khel belongs to Maharashtra, not Punjab.