Holy White Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sri Lanka

In 1885, on the day of Vesak, the Buddhist holiday which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha, the Buddhist flag was hoisted in Sri Lanka. The five colours of the flag are blue, yellow, red, white and orange, which were all found in the aura emanating from the Buddha when he attained enlightenment.

The Buddhist flag has undergone slight variations in different parts of the world.

Answer: Esau

Esau and his twin brother Jacob were the sons of Rebekah and Isaac. Apart from giving away his birthright for the stew in chapter 25 of Genesis, Esau also lost his father's blessings that were due to him as the first-born son when his younger brother tricked their old father into blessing him instead.

Answer: Green

While describing life in paradise, the Quran states that the righteous will be given robes of green silk interwoven with gold. Green is also regarded as the colour of Prophet Muhammad and is believed to have symbolized life to the tribes living in the deserts.

Answer: Shiva

The poison was so strong that neither the gods nor the demons were able to overcome it. Shiva, also known as the Destroyer, was the only one who could digest the poison and thus offered to drink it. However, his wife Parvati feared the poison would harm him and stopped it from passing through his throat, as a result of which his throat turned blue.

This earned him the name Neelkantha, which means blue-throated one.

Answer: True

Given that it is considered a colour of mourning, it would seem highly unlikely that a Hindu bride would wear white on the day of her wedding. However, in the south Indian state of Kerala, brides have traditionally worn white or cream saris with a gold border for their marriage rituals.

Answer: Blue and White

Blue is the colour of divinity in Judaism. The blue and white braids of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, symbolize purity and the Law. The national flag of Israel is also constituted of these two colours.

Answer: Holi

Holi is a Hindu spring festival celebrating the end of winter and the beginning of spring. There are multiple legends regarding the origin of this festival. According to one of them, Holi celebrates the killing of Hiranyakashyap, the king of demons by Narasimha, the half-lion/half-man avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu.

As part of the celebrations, people spray coloured water or powdered colours on each other. In earlier days, natural colours with medicinal properties were used, which also helped to protect the people from common illnesses like cold and fever caused by the seasonal changes.

Answer: Zoroastrianism

The garb of Zoroastrian priests consists of white robes worn along with white caps. Saffron is a sacred colour for Hindus and Sikhs. While Buddhist monks may wear different coloured robes depending on their regions, the saffron robes favoured by the Theravada monks of Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Thailand are most well known.

Zoroastrianism originated in Iran while the other three religions can trace their origins to ancient India.

Answer: The Pope

The red colour is believed to signify the blood of martyrdom, symbolic of Saint Peter, the first Pope, who was martyred for his faith. While the red shoes are a papal tradition, wearing them is not compulsory. Red is also regarded as one of the colours of the Holy Spirit.

Answer: Narmada

The Narmada river flows through the states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat in India before emptying into the Arabian Sea. Ganga, in the form of a black cow, visits the Narmada every year to take a dip and cleanse her sins before returning in the form of a white cow.