Mathura has been an important settlement for more than 2500 years. It was important because it was located at the cross roads of two major routes of travel and trade — from the northwest to the east and from north to south. Mathura was also a religious centre — there were Buddhist monasteries, Jaina shrines, and it was an important centre for the worship of Krishna. Mathura was also a center of great artistic craftsmanship and the mathura school of arts produced many famous sculptures.

The Durga temple located at Aihole was built about 1400 years ago. Aihole is situated in Karnataka state. The temple was probably built in the late 7th or early 8th century by Chalukyas. The architecture of the Durga temple is mainly Dravida with Nagara style.

farmers and herders.

In many cities, archaeologists have found rows of pots, or ceramic rings arranged one on top of the other. These are known as ring wells. These seem to have been used as toilets in some cases, and as drains and garbage dumps

Lothal was one of the southernmost cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, situated near the village of Saragwala in the Dholka Taluka of Ahmedabad district. In length according to satellite imagery an ancient extension of the northern river channel bed of a tributary of the Bhogavo river.

The eastern part of the city is known as the Lower Town. The Lower Town is a large area that covers most of the site of Mohenjodaro. Archaeologists believe that most people lived and worked in the Lower Town.

Many historians do not believe in the Aryan Invasion theory. They believe the main cause of the sudden decline is climate change. Huge climate change or natural calamities might have been a cause of the ruin of Harappan civilization.

These changes in climate led to floods in plains and cities.

This civilization is said to have come to an abrupt end. The following reasons are put forward for its abrupt end: The neighboring desert encroached on the fertile area and made it infertile. Aryan invaders killed people and destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization.

End of the Indus. The Indus Valley civilization began to decline between 1900 and 1800 BCE. Most of the cities disappeared or were abandoned. Archaeologists do not know why this happened.

Rigveda is the oldest veda out of the four vedas. It contains hymns in praise of Gods like Indra, agni, Soma, Rudra and many more. Vishvamitra was one of the composer of the Rigveda and in one hymn he had a dialouge with Beas and Sutlej. These are the two rivers running in through Punjab in India.

Great Bath is an ancient structure at Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan. The Great Bath dates to the 3rd millennium BCE and is believed to have been used for ritual bathing. Hence, Option A is correct.

The inscriptions are thought to have been mostly written from right to left, but sometimes follow boustrophedonic style. 

More than a thousand settlements are now known from the Indus valley civilization. The civilization is known to have had a unity of culture, art, script, and technology. The largest city, Mohenjo Daro is thought to have reached a population of approximately 30,000, suggesting a total population of approximately 5 million people. Sun-dried bricks were used for infill, and burnt bricks were used for the drain and sewer linings. It would seem that a standard brick size was developed and used throughout the Indus cities.

Gandhara school of art developed in the first century AD during the reign of Kushanas. The Gandhara school incorporated many motifs and techniques from Classical Roman art in interpretation of Buddhist legends. The Bamyan Buddha of Afghanistan were the example of the Gandhara School.

One of the most noteworthy characteristics of Mohen-jo-Daro was that the main entrance of the houses opened in the side lane instead of opening to the main road. This was aimed at keeping the interiors dust free and also to provide greater privacy to the inhabitants. 

The Indus valley cities faced a serious threat from annual floods. To overcome this threat Mohenjo-Daro had nine levels of occupation towering over 300 feet above the present flood plain. Excavations reveal that the city was flooded more than seven times. So the houses were built on high plinth.

Dholavira which was situated in the Kutch area of Gujarat shows Harappan fortification and all the three phases of the Harappan culture. All other Harappan towns were divided into two parts- Citadel and the Lower Town, but Dholavira was divided into three principal divisions- the Citadel, the Middle Town and the Lower town.

Harappan cities except Dholavira had its own citadel or acropolis, which was possibly occupied by members of the ruling class. The Citadel was generally in the upper part of the city. Below the citadel in each city lay a lower town containing brick houses, which were inhabited by the common people.

The city of Dholavira was divided into three major portions: The citadel, The Middle Town and the Lower Town. The Citadel was in the highest part of the city where the royal palace was situated. The citadel was well fortified and protected. The fort had 4 main gates for entrance.

Lower town was the place were the common people lived. Their houses were mostly small with one or two rooms and are made of hand made bricks.

The houses in the upper towns of Dholavira generally have 2 to 5 comparatively bigger rooms. These big houses, mostly belonged to the ruling class. 

The meaning of the word Mohenjo-Daro is 'Mound of the dead'. It is a well planned and organized town. It has two very important buildings; The great Bath and the Great Granary. The Great Bath was perhaps used for ritualistic purposes. Located at the center of the citadel, it is remarkable for beautiful brickwork. The Great Granary, which was perhaps the largest building of the Indus Valley Civilization suggests extreme centralization as the ruling authorities must have first brought the agricultural produce here and then redistributed it.

The drainage system of Mohenjo-Daro was very impressive. Water flowed from the house into the streets which had drains. The street drains were equipped with manholes. Perhaps no other bronze age civilization gave so much importance to health and cleanliness as the Indus Valley people did.

Dharmrajika stupa is situated at Sarnath. This stupa was built by Mauryan emperor Ashoka to keep relics of lord Buddha. There are many other Buddha images in the standing position from Sarnath having features like transparent drapery, subtle movement and carved separately and placed about the memorial stupas around the Dharmrajika stupa. They are either single or with the attendant figures of Boddhisattvas, Padmapani and Vajrapani.

The most important public space of Mohenjo- Daro seems to be the Great Bath, comprising the tank which was situated in the citadel mound. It is an example of beautiful brickwork. It measures 54.8 meters long and 32.90 meters wide. Flights of steps at either end lead to the surface. There were side rooms for changing clothes. The floor of the Bath was made of burnt bricks. It is suggested that the Great Bath served ritual bathing, which has been so vital to any religious ceremony in India. So all the given statements are correct.

The worship of trees was widespread during the Indus Valley Civilization. The Peepal tree was considered most sacred. One of the seals shows a God standing between the branches of a Peepal tree and the God was being worshipped by a devotee on his knees. The discovery of a large number of seals with Peepal trees engraved on them also suggests that this tree was considered sacred to the people of Indus Valley Civilization.

Stupas are generally oval in shape and made up of bricks or stones. The basic structure of  a stupa consists of a cylindrical drum and an oval 'Anda' with a 'Harmika' and 'Chhatra' on the top which remain throughout with minor variations and changes in size and shape later.

The bull was the most depicted animal of the Indus Valley Civilization. It was depicted on their seals and tablets. These were Zebu Bull or humped cattle which were probably domesticated by the Harappans for agriculture. Along with Bull, Rhinoceros and Elephants were also depicted by them.

Kailasa or Kailashnath Temple of Verul (Ellora) was made in the 8th century. The Kailashnath temple is dedicated to Shiva. It was constructed by Rashtrakutas. It depicts the episode of Ravana shaking Mount Kailasha when Lord Shiva along with Parvati and others were on the mountain.

The Gondeshwar temple is located in Sinnar, a town in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, India. It is an 11th-12th century Hindu temple. Its main shrine is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The main shrine is surrounded by 4 subsidiary shrines. That is why it is an example of Panchayatana temple.

The temple built at the beginning of the Gupta period (300 to 350 A.D.) consists only simple square cell the garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum, in front of which there is a covered verandah, a portico, which consists of four heavy pillars supporting a stone roof.

Temple in Maharashtra built during the 12-13th centuries are known as Hemadpanti Temples. This style is named after its founder Hemadpant (1259-1274 CE). He was the prime minister in the court of Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri.

Harappan culture is recognized for advanced metallurgical techniques. Archaeologists have discovered usage of copper, bronze, tin, silver and gold. It was the first time that silver was extracted and used in Indus valley Civilisation. Its usage was mainly in the ornaments such as hair beads, necklace etc. Though it was also hammered to form thin sheets which could have been used to garnish eatables such as sweets. 

Indus valley civilisation identified as urban settlement is believed to flourish during 3000-1500 BC. It's chief characteristics were permanent settlement and practice of settled agriculture, Trade was a prominent feature of its urban areas. Their accomplishment in art and culture ia also to be noted. This whole Indus valley civilisation can be divided into Early, Mature and later phases given their progress and expanse.

Evidence of urban planning can be seen at Dholavira. This settlement has been divided by archaeologists into three sections – the ‘citadel,’ the ‘middle town,’ and the ‘lower town.’ The city streets were based on a grid system and oriented east to west. The roads and streets intersected at right angles. Each street had a well-organized drain system.

A seal referred to as Pashupati Seal found in Mohenjo-daro depicts a central human figure surrounded by four wild animals, an elephant and tiger on one side and a rhinoceros and a buffalo on the other side. Below the dais are two deer. He is believed to be the central deity and presumed to be earlier depiction of Lord Shiva.

People of Harappan civilisation had domesticated a wide variety of animals. It included camel, buffalo, sheep, dog, pig, oxen etc. Camels were used as a means of transportation while Oxen was used by farming community for cultivation. Dogs and cats were kept as pets. Other animal such as buffaloes and pigs were used as source of food. We came to know about the domesticated animals through their presence on seals and pictures engraved on tablets. Interestingly there is no evidence of Horses being domesticated during harappan period. 

The Pipal tree or Acasia tree was worshipped as the tree of life which was defended by guardian spirits (such as bull, snake or goat) against evil forces such as a tiger. Artistic sense of people is visible in seals, ornaments, clay and bronze figurines. Great Bath or Public pools have been excavated at Mohan-jodaro as well as Dholavira which indicates toward a ritualistic purification bath ceremony observed by resident of Harappan civilisation.