Question

What is Paliya?
A. Paliya is a folk dance of Kutch region
B. Paliya is the folk music of Kutch region
C. Paliya is a memorial commemorating the heroes
D. Paliya is a religious ceremony of tribal people

Answer 1

Hint: Pala is a word in Gujarati which is used to refer to a ‘group of soldiers’ or ‘armies’. Likewise, in Sanskrit, the word means ‘to protect’. These are the terms from which the tradition of Paliya originates from.

Complete answer: Paliya is a tradition found in the north-western, particularly the Kutch region of Gujarat. It is also called Khambi and refers to the erection of stones which have symbols or inscriptions etched on them.
This tradition upholds the memories of the soldiers or war heroes who died in skirmishes and puts up stone memorials to commemorate them. The tradition is said to evolve from the Vedic times onwards where the bodies were buried outside the village or the community residential areas and are found in different parts of India in different forms like cenotaph, stupas and memorial temples.

Looking at the options;
Option A- Salu Paliya is a traditional dance form in Sri Lanka but no such folk dance is found in the region of Kutch and Saurashtra. So, this is an incorrect answer.
Option B- Paliya Nritham is a folk art form of Kerala which uses Urumi, Jara and Jalanka as music instruments. So this is an incorrect option.
Option C- Since Paliya is a traditional form of commemorating soldiers who are popularly seen as heroes, this is a correct option.
Option D- Paliya is also the name of a tribal community found in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They have their own unique ceremonies and customs but Paliya is the name of the community itself and not some practice of theirs. So, this is an incorrect option.
Therefore, the correct option is (C).

Note: It is important to understand that the same word can have different meanings and relevance in different ethnicities and languages. So, even though the word remains the same, it is important to understand it contextually.