Numbers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kauravas and Pandavas

Both factions belonged to the Kuru family. The kingdom had earlier been divided into two and each faction controlled one half. In a game of dice, the Pandavas lost their territories to the Kauravas and were forced to go into exile for thirteen years. They were promised that their land would be returned to them once the period of exile ended.

However, when the Kauravas went back on their word at the end of the thirteen years, the cousins went to war over the throne of Hastinapur. The war lasted for eighteen days and was fought on the battleground of Kurukshetra with the Pandavas eventually emerging victorious.

Answer: 18

Made famous through its association with the mystical form of Kabbalah, Gematria is a process of associating different words with different numbers. The word Chai meaning life is spelled using the letters Het and Yud. Based on the numerical values assigned by Gematria, both these numbers add up to 18, thus making 18 a lucky number for the Jews.

Answer: Chinese

These five elements are believed to represent the harmony of the world and are found in varied Chinese traditional fields. For instance, in traditional Chinese medicine, various parts of the body are linked to these five elements and the inter-relationships between them are understood through the effect of these elements.

Answer: The cosmology consists of three worlds supported by the world tree, Yggdrasil.

According to Norse myth, Yggdrasil unites nine different worlds which include Miogaror, the world where the humans dwelled. The Yggdrasil is a giant ash tree that connects all the nine worlds and is central to the Norse mythology.

The three original beings are Buri, the first god in Norse myth and grandfather of the better known god Odin, Ymir who was the first member of the giant race and Audhumla, a cow.

Thor's main weapons were his famous hammer named Mjolnir, iron gloves for handling the hammer and a magical belt that increased his strength. He used these weapons in his fight against the giants.

Ragnarok heralds the end of the existing world through a series of events including a final battle at the end of which the world is submerged in the sea. Life then begins anew with the rebirth of the gods and the human survivors.

Answer: False

Rama's father Dashratha was the king of Ayodhya and had three wives: Kausalya, Sumatra and Kaikeyi. Rama was the son of Kausalya, and Dashratha's favourite son. Well loved by all, he was selected by Dashratha to be his heir. Though Kaikeyi loved Rama, her desire to see her own son, Bharatha, ascend to the throne prompted her to force Dashratha to send Rama into exile for fourteen years. Rama's wife Sita and his brother Lakshama were unable to live without him and decided to accompany him to the forest.

Answer: Ravana

Ravana was the son of the sage Vishrava and a princess named Kaikesi. By undertaking an intense penance, he won the favour of the Brahma, one of the gods of the Hindu trinity, who gave him a nectar for immortality. Ravana then set out to conquer the island of Lanka and proclaimed himself its king.

Ravana believed that Rama and his brother Lakshamana had cut off his sister Suparnakha's nose causing her grave insult. To avenge this insult, he kidnapped Rama's wife Sita while they were in exile.

Answer: Sappho

The nine muses were associated with different fields in art and science. Apart from the three mentioned, the remaining consist of Thalia, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Urania and Melpomene. Sappho was a poet from the island of Lesbos who was once called the 'tenth muse' by Plato.

Answer: Sea monster

Scylla, the child of Phorcys and Ceto, had four eyes, six heads and three rows of teeth making her one of the most feared sea monsters. Scylla inhabited one side of a narrow strait with a whirlpool named Charybdis occupying the other side. Sailors would end up getting caught by one or the other giving rise to the idiom 'between Scylla and Charybdis' which is similar to the one stating 'between the Devil and the deep blue sea'.

Answer: Baha'i

The Bab, the leader of the Baha'i faith, and his disciples together constituted a group of 19. A group of 19 people is thus regarded as 'one' or 'unity' in this religion. In addition, the Baha'i calendar consists of 19 months each containing 19 days.

None of the other three religions given in the options have any special significance attached to the number 19.

Answer: True

Hercules, known to the Greeks as Herakles, killed his sons in a bout of insanity induced by Hera. When he came back to his senses, he was filled with remorse. The oracle at Delphi then advised him to serve King Eurystheus for twelve years as penance. The twelve tasks accomplished by Hercules for Eurystheus are now known as the 'Twelve Labours of Hercules'.