Vartika and Anshu win heritage quiz

Lucknow: Do you know which Indian monument is called the ‘Dream in Marble'? It is the Taj Mahal.What does the divine form of Ardhanarishwar symbolize? It is the unity of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, the balance of masculine and feminine energies. The Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh are inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These were among the intriguing questions that challenged students' knowledge of India's heritage at the Uttar Pradesh State Final of the INTACH National Heritage Quiz 2025, organized by the INTACH Lucknow Chapter at La Martiniere College on Thursday. Eight top teams from across Uttar Pradesh took part in the competition, representing schools from cities including Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Lucknow, and Jhansi. The quiz featured five diverse rounds encompassing architecture, monuments, geography, and mythology from Qutub Minar and Fatehpur Sikri to the Western and Eastern Ghats. The rounds included rapid fire, catching the mistake, identification, know the monument, and geographical significance. Anshu Singh and Vartika Mishra from Army Public School, Ayodhya, emerged as the state champions. They will now represent Uttar Pradesh in the national finals in New Delhi. The duo from Sunbeam School, Bhagwanpur (Varanasi), Arihan Satyanarain and Aaditya Singh, secured second place, while Utkarsh Vishwakarma and Shreyasi Chakraborty of Army Public School, Nehru Road, Lucknow finished third. Anshu Singh said, "It feels incredible to represent our school and state at the national level. We put in a lot of hard work, revising our notes and booklets that focused on India's cultural and historical heritage." Vartika Mishra said, "This experience has motivated me to learn more about our history and traditions. It will be an honor to take our knowledge of India's heritage to the national stage."