History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer
Puranas were the innovative genre of literature to popularise and revive Vedic religion. Elaborate with examples.
- UPSC 2020
- Aryans and Vedic Period
By the middle of the first millennium BCE, Vedic religion — built around the elaborate, expensive, and exclusive yajna presided over by Brahmana specialists — faced a serious credibility crisis, challenged by the rise of Buddhism, Jainism, and other heterodox movements that rejected sacrificial ritualism outright. The Puranas emerged as the literary instrument through which…
You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.
What the full answer covers
- The Crisis That Necessitated Reinvention
- Claiming Vedic Descent While Building a New Audience
- Popularisation Through Ritual Simplification
- Absorbing Rather Than Excluding Rival Traditions
- Beyond Religion: A Vehicle for Secular Knowledge and Legitimacy
- A Vedic Pantheon Reordered, Not Discarded
Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more
- 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
- Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
- Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
- Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
- Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download
₹1,499₹2,50040% off
Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →
One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay
See every Aryans and Vedic Period question (37 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in
