GS Paper I — Q7
Why is the South-West Monsoon called 'Purvaiya' (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system…
Why is the South-West Monsoon called 'Purvaiya' (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the cultural ethos of the region? (Answer in 150 words) 10 marks
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
दक्षिण-पश्चिम मानसून भोजपुर क्षेत्र में 'पूर्वैया' (पूर्वी) क्यों कहलाता है? इस दिशापरक मौसमी पवन प्रणाली ने क्षेत्र के सांस्कृतिक लोकाचार को कैसे प्रभावित किया है? (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए)
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
The term Purvaiya comes from Purva, east, because in Bhojpur the south-west monsoon is felt locally as an easterly or south-easterly wind. The Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west monsoon, deflected by the Arakan hills and the Himalayas and drawn towards the low-pressure trough over north-west India, moves westward up the Ganga plain; hence it reaches Bhojpur from the east. This apparent direction, not the wind’s source, shaped the region’s ethos. The Purvaiya fixed the kharif calendar: sowing, transplanting and paddy cultivation were timed to its onset, strength and retreat, making farming rain-dependent. It coloured culture: Chhath Puja’s post-monsoon solar rituals, Kajari songs praising the easterly wind, and folk rain-forecasting reflect this rhythm. The easterly flow reinforced identity, treating the wind as the season’s herald. Vernacular settlements responded through courtyards, ponds (pokhars) and canals that harvested and drained the monsoon. Thus the wind became a cultural marker of season, labour and belief, embedding human-environment interaction in Bhojpur’s identity.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: GS1 Paper 1
What earns full marks: Clear mechanism of 'Purvaiya' with specific cultural examples and map
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- The answer Explain the directional mechanism of the SW monsoon in Bhojpur and its cultural impact. 10 marks · 150 words
explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close
Must cover
- Define 'Purvaiya' as the local term for the easterly monsoon wind in the Bhojpur region
- Explain the mechanism: the Bay of Bengal branch is turned by the Himalayas and blows from east to west along the Ganga plain, so it arrives from the east
- Link the wind system to cultural ethos (kajri-sawan songs, paddy transplanting, Bidesiya migration)
- Connect physical geography to human outcome
Loses marks
- Narrating chronology of monsoon seasons
- Emotive words on cultural issues without mechanism
- Where without why (location without directional explanation)
Earns more
- Mention local crops or festivals linked to the wind (e.g., paddy transplanting, Sawan-Kajri)
- Reference the specific geography of the Bhojpur region (Ganga plain)
- Use the term 'directional seasonal wind system' effectively
Extra mark
- 30-second sketch map of Bhojpur showing wind direction
- One robust statistic on rainfall or agricultural yield
What "Explain" is asking you to do
Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.
Structure that answers it
State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces
Where marks are lost
Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
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