In ancient India 'Kutagarashala', was literally a hut with a pointed…

The correct answer is Option (2) → Travelling mendicants halted.

Option (1) Elaborate sacrifices such as ‘Rajasuya’ and ‘Ashvamedha’ were performed. — Incorrect. These elaborate sacrifices were performed by chiefs and kings who depended on Brahmana priests to conduct the ritual. They belong to the Vedic tradition, not to the debating huts of the travelling teachers.

Option (2) Travelling mendicants halted. — Correct as per NTA. Teachers travelled from place to place, trying to convince one another as well as laypersons, and their debates took place in the kutagarashala – literally, a hut with a pointed roof – or in groves where travelling mendicants halted.

Option (3) Original copies of the Buddhist text ‘Tripitaka’ were preserved. — Incorrect. None of the Buddha’s speeches were written down during his lifetime; after his death his teachings were compiled by his disciples at a council of senior monks at Vesali, and were first transmitted orally. The kutagarashala was a place of debate, not a store of texts.

Option (4) Women disciples of Gautam Buddha used to conduct secret meetings. — Incorrect. The kutagarashala was a place of open debate, where a philosopher tried to win over his rivals and their followers; it had nothing to do with secret meetings.

Note: This question is not properly framed. The book says that debates took place in the kutagarashala or in groves where travelling mendicants halted, so the halting of travelling mendicants is said of the groves, not of the kutagarashala, and none of the options says that debates were held there. The kutagarashala has probably been taken, like the groves, as a halting place of these travelling teachers, so Option (2) is the answer as per the NTA answer key.