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This paper aimed to discuss the areal extent and spatial structure of neighborhood, called tol, which possibly demarcate urban tissue with respect to worship of the deity and funerary acts. Bhaktapur is known as one of the historical cities of the World Heritage Site in Kathmandu Valley. The analysis firstly focuses on the dwelling distributions that have the common votary area of the guardian deities' temples/shrines and the use of the same crossing for funerary acts. Then, the authors compare those dwelling distribution with the areal extent of tols to find out how tol boundaries were formed. This result will be a precondition to conduct further examination on historical urban formation in the coming paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper aimed to discuss the areal extent and spatial structure of neighborhood, called tol, which possibly demarcate urban tissue with respect to worship of the deity and funerary acts. Bhaktapur is known as one of the historical cities of the World Heritage Site in Kathmandu Valley. The analysis firstly focuses on the dwelling distributions that have the common votary area of the guardian deities' temples/shrines and the use of the same crossing for funerary acts. Then, the authors compare those dwelling distribution with the areal extent of tols to find out how tol boundaries were formed. This result will be a precondition to conduct further examination on historical urban formation in the coming paper.

In this article, the authors argue that social media is becoming a more influential medium for religious services in Bangkok, Thailand. Buddhism, with an attendant mixing of Thai animistic beliefs in spirits, inanimate objects, and talismans, along with other expressive forms of religious enterprise, is adapting to a changing personalized media landscape to reach ever more diverse audiences. Social media in particular is allowing for social and personal entrepreneurship of religious expressions that formerly were largely limited by physical space and its attendant costs. The authors argue that utilizing the Uses and Gratification approach will provide a powerful method for understanding and evaluating how and why religious entrepreneurship is shifting in contemporary Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a widely used fruit, which contains several interesting bioactive compounds and possess health-promoting properties. Seeing the importance of this fruit, it is crucial to study its quality characteristics. Hence, in the current study, we assessed phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of different plant parts (leaves, rind and arils) of two pomegranate cultivars (Kesar and Ganesh). The analysis of phytochemical constituents in the cultivars revealed that, the content of phenolics ranged from 49.3 to 602 mg TAE/g plant material and the content of flavonoids ranged from 0.27 to 18.8 mg RE/g plant material. The maximum amount of phenolics and flavonoids was observed in the rind extracts as compared to the leaves and arils in both the cultivars. On the other hand, the antioxidant activity determined by different antioxidant models exhibited various degrees of antioxidant activity in different plant parts of the cultivars and was found to be highest in rind and aril extracts than that of leaves. Among the solvents methanol and ethanol gave highest extraction yields as compared to water and acetone. Total phenolics and flavonoids were significantly different with methanol and ethanol being the most efficient solvent and acetone being the least efficient one. Correlation between the antioxidant activity and phenolics and flavonoid content was found to be significant. Thus the results strongly indicated that there were significant differences between pomegranate cultivars. Generally the cultivar Ganesh has higher antioxidant activity as well as total phenolics and flavonoid content in comparison to Kesar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Born in Bombay but mainly educated in the UK, Salman Rushdie is at ease juggling with myths from both classical, western beliefs and from Hindu tradition, just as he plays with allusions to writers, works or characters, myths allow him to build his fictional worlds. The article aims to discuss how he deals with myths in two of his novels, "Midnight's Children" and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maratha temples, built between the mid-seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries in Maharashtra (Western India), were influenced by the preceding traditions of Hindu temple architecture of the Yadavas and the religious and secular buildings of Deccani Sultanates and Mughals. The Ganesh temple complex at Tasgaon in southwest Maharashtra is representative of the high point that the Maratha temple tradition had attained in the late-eighteenth century. The temple was constructed in a period that coincides with Maratha political ascendancy and economic prosperity, and its form and composition represents the fullest development of the Maratha architectural style. The roof spires over the temple's five shrine sanctuary and the gopura tower over the entrance gateway represent an interplay of preceding architectural traditions, economic prosperity, eclectic architectural influences, and the lifestyle aspirations of the patron. The temple brings to attention the hybrid sophistications of a lesser-known, understudied, and misunderstood architectural tradition, and establishes the Marathas as robust patrons of art and architecture despite the tumultuous political conditions in Maharashtra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]