Class 8 - L10 - A Place Fit for Gods to Marry

10. A Place Fit for Gods to Marry

Reading Comprehension

A. Answer the following questions:

1. What was Madurai earlier known as?

Answer – Madurai was earlier known as Madhurapuri or ‘The City of Nectar’

2. Why is Madurai called as ‘The City of Nectar’?

Answer – Madurai is called as ‘The City of Nectar’ because it is believed that some venom had fallen on Madurai from Lord Shiva’s snake. So he put some nectar from his crescent moon to neutralize the poison.

3. Why did Shiva put nectar on Madurai?

Answer – Lord Shiva put nectar on Madurai to neutralize the harmful effect of the venom that had fallen on the city from his snake.

4. How many legends about Madurai have you read in the lesson?

Answer – We have heard three legends Madurai in the lesson.

5. Which of the legends about Madurai do you find the most interesting?

Why?

Answer – I find the legend about the marriage of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswara the most interesting.

            The grand depiction of this twelve days long marriage ceremony, preparations, items like the royal umbrellas, pipers, drummers, jewellery, elephant and the idols of Gods from nearby temples  - they all takes us to the golden times in the past.

6. What do you like most about Madurai?

Answer – I liked the Meenakshi Temple the most in Madurai. It has magnificent structure which is filled with wonderful sculptures. The dance halls and a thousand pillar mandapam with musical pillars are astounding (amazing).

B. Fill in the blanks:

1. After the wedding Meenakshi is taken on a palanquin.

2. Lord Sundareshwara is carried on a silver elephant.

3. Goddess Meenakshi’s husband is Lord Sundareswara.

4. The people of Madurai speak Tamil language.

5. Madurai is in Tamil Nadu state.

6. The moon on Shiva’s head is crescent shaped.

Vocabulary

A. Given below are words followed by four meanings.

Tick the meaning used in the text:

1. melodious

(a) sad                                                (b) musical

(c) merry                                             (d) happy

Answer – (b) musical

2. neutralize

(a) to be filled with nectar                   (b) to make something harmless

(c) finish the value                              (d) to make something look beautiful

Answer – (b) to make something harmless

3. venom

(a) poison                                          (b) blessing

(c) money                                          (d) honey

Answer – (a) poison.

4. nectar

(a) beauty                                          (b) bright light from heaven

(c) poison                                          (d) drink of Gods

Answer – (d) drink of Gods

5. attack

(a) to harm some one                       (b) to argue with some one

(c) to be friendly with some one       (d) to be angry with some one

Answer – (a) to harm some one

6. ancient

(a) attractive                                     (b) huge

(c) new                                             (d) old

Answer – (d) old

7. summon

(a) tell someone to come                 (b) tell someone to salute

(c) tell someone to speak                (d) tell someone to sum up

Answer – (a) tell someone to come        

8. magnificient

(a) grand                                            (b) interesting

(c) ordinary                                        (d) bright

Answer – (a) grand

9. sculpture

(a) statue                                            (b) tombs

(c) design                                           (d) pillars

Answer – (a) statue

B. Pick out adjectives from the text and change them to nouns by adding ‘-

ness’:

Adjectives from the text	Noun from by adding ‘ness’ as suffix
fit	fitness
sound	soundness
melodious	melodiousness
sweet	sweetness
grand	grandness
huge	hugeness
large	largeness
musical	musicalness

C. Match the adjectives in ‘A’ with their opposites in ‘B’:

A	B	Correct Answer
polite	beautiful	rude
sweet	rude	bitter
bright	dull	dull
neat	bitter	dirty
white	dirty	black
ugly	black	beautiful

Grammar

Study the price tags carefully and ask each other the following questions and answer them as in the example:

Work in pairs.

Example: Which item is cheaper than the chess-board?

Answer:  A Ludo is cheaper than the chess-board.

Picture:

1. Which item is the cheapest?

Answer – The Ludo is the cheapest item.

2. Which is the costliest item?

Answer – The bat is the costliest item.

3. Which items are cheaper than the bat?

Answer – All the other items are cheaper than the bat.

4. Which items are as costly as the racquet?

Answer – Football and hockey are as costly as the racquet.

© 2019 - Anupam Agrawal And CG-SCERT