30 GK Questions with Answers in Tamil and English (TNPSC Level)

Rivers, dams, hills and coasts of Tamil Nadu come up in almost every state exam, and most answers are in the Class 6 to 10 Samacheer Kalvi geography lessons.

1. Which mountain range forms the western boundary of Tamil Nadu?

(A) Aravalli Range · (B) Satpura Range · (C) Western Ghats · (D) Vindhya Range

Answer: (C) Western Ghats. The Western Ghats run along Tamil Nadu's western border, separating it from Kerala.

2. Which district of Tamil Nadu is located at the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent?

(A) Ramanathapuram · (B) Kanyakumari · (C) Tirunelveli · (D) Thoothukudi

Answer: (B) Kanyakumari. Kanyakumari lies at the southern tip of mainland India, where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet.

3. Which physiographic region of Tamil Nadu is characterised by the vast alluvial plains built by the Cauvery and its distributaries, making it the rice bowl of the state?

(A) Cauvery Delta · (B) Kongu Plateau · (C) Coromandel Upland · (D) Palaru Basin

Answer: (A) Cauvery Delta. The delta's fertile alluvial soil, centred on Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, supports intensive paddy cultivation, which is why it is called the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu.

4. The Sathanur Dam is built across which river in Tamil Nadu?

(A) Cheyyar · (B) Vellar · (C) Palar · (D) Pennaiyar

Answer: (D) Pennaiyar. Sathanur Dam stands across the Pennaiyar (also called Thenpennai or South Pennar) in Tiruvannamalai district.

5. Which district in Tamil Nadu is known for the Hogenakkal Falls, often called the 'Niagara of India'?

(A) Krishnagiri · (B) Dharmapuri · (C) Erode · (D) Salem

Answer: (B) Dharmapuri. Hogenakkal Falls is on the Cauvery, near the Karnataka border, in Dharmapuri district.

Nicknames of rivers, dams and national parks are classic one-mark questions. Learn them with the state, because the options usually test that.

6. Which river is known as the 'Sorrow of Bihar'?

(A) Ganga · (B) Kosi · (C) Gandak · (D) Mahananda

Answer: (B) Kosi. The Kosi changes its course often and floods north Bihar almost every year, which earned it this name.

7. Which river originates from Amarkantak plateau and flows westward into the Arabian Sea?

(A) Godavari · (B) Narmada · (C) Mahanadi · (D) Tapti

Answer: (B) Narmada. The Narmada rises at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and flows west through a rift valley into the Gulf of Khambhat. The Tapti also flows west, but it rises in the Satpura range, not at Amarkantak.

8. The Bhakra Nangal Dam, India's highest gravity dam, is built across which river?

(A) Ravi · (B) Chenab · (C) Beas · (D) Sutlej

Answer: (D) Sutlej. Bhakra Dam stands on the Sutlej in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, and its reservoir is called Gobind Sagar.

9. Which Indian state is home to Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

(A) Assam · (B) Arunachal Pradesh · (C) West Bengal · (D) Meghalaya

Answer: (A) Assam. Kaziranga lies on the Brahmaputra floodplains in Assam and is home to about two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinoceroses.

10. Which is the largest national park in India by area?

(A) Sundarbans National Park · (B) Namdapha National Park · (C) Desert National Park · (D) Hemis National Park

Answer: (D) Hemis National Park. Hemis, in Ladakh, covers about 4,400 sq km and is known for its snow leopards.

Group 4 asks about both Indian history and the Pallava, Chola and Pandya kings of Tamil Nadu. Titles taken by kings are a favourite.

11. Which ancient Indian site, excavated in the Indus Valley, is famous for its great bath and advanced urban planning?

(A) Harappa · (B) Kalibangan · (C) Mohenjo-daro · (D) Lothal

Answer: (C) Mohenjo-daro. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, now in Pakistan, is a large brick water tank that shows how advanced Harappan town planning was.

12. Which Pallava king held the title 'Vatapikonda' after defeating the Chalukyas and sacking their capital Vatapi?

(A) Narasimhavarman I · (B) Paramesvaravarman I · (C) Mahendravarman I · (D) Nandivarman II

Answer: (A) Narasimhavarman I. He defeated the Chalukya king Pulakesin II around 642 CE and captured Vatapi, earning the title Vatapikonda. He is also known as Mamallan.

13. Which Chola king is known for building the Gangaikondacholapuram temple, modelled after the Brihadeeswarar Temple?

(A) Rajendra I · (B) Vikrama Chola · (C) Kulottunga I · (D) Rajaraja I

Answer: (A) Rajendra I. He built Gangaikondacholapuram as his new capital after his northern campaign reached the Ganga, and modelled its temple on his father Rajaraja I's Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur.

14. The Chola king Kulottunga I is famous for abolishing which tax, earning him the title 'Sungam Tavirtta'?

(A) Temple entry fee · (B) Land revenue tax · (C) Toll/transit tax on goods · (D) Marriage tax

Answer: (C) Toll/transit tax on goods. Sungam was the toll on goods moving through the kingdom; Kulottunga I abolished it and came to be called Sungam Tavirtta Cholan.

15. The 'Hampi' ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were the capital of which medieval Indian empire?

(A) Rashtrakuta Empire · (B) Vijayanagara Empire · (C) Hoysala Empire · (D) Chola Empire

Answer: (B) Vijayanagara Empire. Hampi, on the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, was the Vijayanagara capital from the 14th to the 16th century, until it was sacked after the Battle of Talikota in 1565.

Polity questions reward exact recall of Parts, Articles and Amendments. If you know these five, you can eliminate wrong options in many others.

16. Which Part of the Indian Constitution deals with Fundamental Rights?

(A) Part IVA · (B) Part II · (C) Part III · (D) Part IV

Answer: (C) Part III. Part III (Articles 12 to 35) contains the Fundamental Rights. Part IV has the Directive Principles and Part IVA the Fundamental Duties.

17. Under which Article does the Indian Constitution guarantee protection of life and personal liberty?

(A) Article 23 · (B) Article 21 · (C) Article 22 · (D) Article 20

Answer: (B) Article 21. It says no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Courts have read many rights into it, including the right to privacy.

18. The right to move the Supreme Court directly for enforcement of Fundamental Rights is guaranteed under which Article?

(A) Article 142 · (B) Article 136 · (C) Article 32 · (D) Article 226

Answer: (C) Article 32. Article 32 is itself a Fundamental Right, and Dr B. R. Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution. Article 226 gives High Courts a similar power, but it is not a Fundamental Right.

19. Which article of the Indian Constitution empowers the Parliament to form a new state by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or parts of states?

(A) Article 4 · (B) Article 1 · (C) Article 2 · (D) Article 3

Answer: (D) Article 3. It lets Parliament form new states and change the area, boundaries or names of existing ones. Article 2 is about admitting new states from outside India.

20. Fundamental Duties were incorporated into the Indian Constitution by which amendment?

(A) 42nd Amendment · (B) 44th Amendment · (C) 41st Amendment · (D) 46th Amendment

Answer: (A) 42nd Amendment. The 42nd Amendment (1976), on the Swaran Singh Committee's advice, added Article 51A with ten Fundamental Duties; the 86th Amendment (2002) added the eleventh.

General Science is the first General Studies unit in Group 4. Most of it comes straight from Samacheer Kalvi science lessons up to Class 10.

21. How many bones are there in an adult human body?

(A) 208 · (B) 212 · (C) 206 · (D) 210

Answer: (C) 206. An adult skeleton has 206 bones. A newborn has about 270 to 300, and many of them fuse as the child grows.

22. Which enzyme in saliva begins the digestion of starch?

(A) Trypsin · (B) Amylase · (C) Pepsin · (D) Lipase

Answer: (B) Amylase. Salivary amylase (ptyalin) starts breaking starch into maltose in the mouth. Pepsin digests proteins in the stomach; trypsin and lipase work in the small intestine.

23. Which gland secretes melatonin to regulate the sleep-wake cycle?

(A) Thyroid gland · (B) Pituitary gland · (C) Adrenal gland · (D) Pineal gland

Answer: (D) Pineal gland. This small gland in the brain releases melatonin in the dark, which prepares the body for sleep.

24. Which physical quantity is measured in Pascal?

(A) Energy · (B) Pressure · (C) Force · (D) Power

Answer: (B) Pressure. One pascal is one newton per square metre. Energy is measured in joules, force in newtons and power in watts.

25. What is the name of the process by which the Sun produces its energy?

(A) Radioactive Decay · (B) Photosynthesis · (C) Nuclear Fission · (D) Nuclear Fusion

Answer: (D) Nuclear Fusion. In the Sun's core, hydrogen nuclei fuse into helium and release enormous energy as light and heat. Nuclear power stations on Earth use fission, the splitting of heavy nuclei.

In Group 4 these belong to Part A, the Tamil paper, which is set in Tamil only. Our General Tamil guide explains how that part works.

26. Thiruvalluvar's 'Thirukkural' is divided into how many sections (Athikarams)?

(A) 108 · (B) 133 · (C) 128 · (D) 150

Answer: (B) 133. The Thirukkural has 1,330 couplets in 133 athikarams of ten each, grouped into three books: Aram, Porul and Inbam.

27. Which Tamil saint composed the 'Thiruvachakam', deeply devotional hymns addressed to Lord Shiva at Chidambaram?

(A) Sundarar · (B) Manikkavacagar · (C) Appar · (D) Sambandar

Answer: (B) Manikkavacagar. His Thiruvachakam forms the eighth of the twelve Thirumurai, the Saiva canon. Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar wrote the Thevaram.

28. Avvaiyar, the celebrated Tamil poetess, is particularly associated with which collection of ethical aphorisms for children?

(A) Naladiyar · (B) Aathichudi · (C) Silappatikaram · (D) Purananuru

Answer: (B) Aathichudi. It is a set of one-line moral maxims for children, arranged in Tamil alphabetical order and opening with "அறம் செய விரும்பு".

29. Dr. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer is renowned for which contribution to Tamil literature?

(A) Composing Tamil grammar rules · (B) Writing the national anthem in Tamil · (C) Editing and publishing ancient Tamil manuscripts · (D) Founding Tamil daily newspapers

Answer: (C) Editing and publishing ancient Tamil manuscripts. Known as Tamil Thatha, he traced palm-leaf manuscripts of classics such as Silappathikaram, Manimekalai and Purananuru and published them in print.

30. Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi was a pioneering Tamil woman who achieved which historic first in India?

(A) First Indian woman to climb Mount Everest · (B) First Indian woman to head a national university · (C) First Indian woman to win a Nobel Prize · (D) First Indian woman to become a legislator

Answer: (D) First Indian woman to become a legislator. She was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council in the 1920s, the first woman legislator in British India, and later founded the Cancer Institute at Adyar, Chennai.

Count a guessed answer as wrong when you score yourself. A guess that happened to be right is still a gap.

Thirty questions show you where you stand; regular practice is what moves your score. On Thervu you can take timed tests in Tamil or English, drawn from the same teacher-written bank as this page. Tests are marked the moment you submit, and the questions you get wrong come back for revision so they stick. On Pro you can also pick the topic, and every answer comes with its explanation. The free plan includes free tests every day; see plans for the limits.

A simple routine that works for most aspirants:

• One short topic test a day, rotating through geography, history, polity, science and Tamil.

• A full-length test once a week, timed like the real paper.

• Ten minutes going back over the week's wrong answers before each full test.

If you have not fixed a timetable yet, our 90-day Group 4 study plan lays one out. The same GK base also serves the TN Police constable exam, and our list of upcoming government exams in Tamil Nadu shows what else is coming up.