Religious Places Research Articles

Age of menarche and menstrual hygiene of pubertal female students in Bhutan: a cross-sectional survey, 2017

Introduction: In Bhutan, pubertal and adolescent female students (10-19 years) make up 8.5% of the population. The need for menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is more urgent in post-menarcheal female students and in resource-poor settings. However, until recent time, there were strong socio-cultural barriers to discourses on menarche and MHM. This study was conducted to determine the age of menarche among Bhutanese female students to identify when to offer MHM support, their knowledge on menstruation and practices related to menstrual hygiene. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of female students studying in Grade 10 in Thimphu, Bhutan. A multistage clustered sampling was used. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire developed for the purpose of this study. Results: A total of 439 post-menarcheal female students were interviewed. The mean age of menarche was 12.8±1.1 years, and fear (38.3%) and confusion (25.1%) were the commonest responses. The mean score on knowledge on menstruation and MHM was 5.9±1.5 out of 9. The proportion of students with good knowledge was 36.7%. The common sources of information were the mother, teacher, and sister. The majority used commercial pads (92.5%) while some used clean cloths (5.7%) and tampons (1.6%). The proportion who stayed absent from school during menstruation in the month prior to data collection was 9.8%. Visiting religious places (67.6%) and participating in sports (4.3%) were common restrictions during menstruation. Conclusions: Female students experience difficulties in menstrual hygiene management in schools. Menstruation could lead to missing schools and other activities. Keywords: Developing country; Health behaviour; Menstrual hygiene product; Standard of living.

ANALYZING THE ESSENCE BETWEEN CEREMONIAL SPACE WITH ISLAMIC CENTER MOSQUE EXPRESSION IN WEST TULANG BAWANG

Abstract- A mosque is a religious place for followers of Islam all over the world, as well in Indonesia, which is the country with the largest number of Muslims society in the world. Thus will affect the high needs of Muslims society for the mosque architecture building that used to perform rituals of worship activity. In this modern era, the shape and style of mosque architecture gets more diverse because of the influence of construction technology. In addition, the diversity is also due to the absence of concrete provisions that discuss the form and style of architecture in the Alquran. The diversity in the form and style of mosque architecture will result in different architectural expression for mosque building. Due to these phenomena, many people are questioning the proper mosque’s form.Masjid Islamic Centre Tulang Bawang Barat (Tubaba) is one of the mosques that meets the object research’s criteria because it doesn’t have universal mosque’s form that generally uses dome. Mosque as a sacred building requires a clear symbolization of the physical elements of the mosque building. This symbolization can be described in the form of activities, such as pray. Undertaken activities will result in spatial space analysis of the mosque which can then be reviewed by the theory of form and meaning. The research was done by applying the theory of anatomy and scope of the building. Furthermore, a review based on the theory of form and meaning is done to see if Masjid Tubaba’s building meets the criteria of symbolization of activities that will result in spatial space of the mosque. As a result, this research will obtained a new standard on the spatial space of the mosque resulting from the symbolization of ritual activities. Key Words: mosque, expression, spatial space, symbolization, ritual activity

Minorias religiosas em Portugal

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar quantitativamente as minorias religiosas em Portugal, alcançando-o em duas fases. Primeiro, analisa-se o peso relativo e absoluto de cada grupo religioso, a evolução de cada grupo religioso, os membros e locais de culto por região. Segundo, caracteriza-se as minorias religiosas por variáveis sociodemográficas, práticas, crenças e valores. Das conclusões, salienta-se que nos últimos trinta anos as minorias religiosas têm crescido em Portugal, destacando-se o crescimento e o peso das minorias cristãs (outros cristãos, protestantes e ortodoxos).

Cultural Mapping - A Developmental Tool for Enhancing the Destination’s Image. Case Study of Cuttack

Tourism is one of the major contributors of the global economy, which helps in generating millions of jobs and billions of dollars worldwide. In emerging countries it is considered as the only tool for development and by many communities it is the only chance for increasing the quality of life. If one looks from the socio-cultural perspective, tourism is the source that brings together people from different cultures and traditions with different background. Cultural mapping is a developmental tool that makes use of practical and participatory planning which is an emerging mode of research. Cultural mapping also makes use of the theory of “Making the Intangibles Visible”. Odisha has been the tourist’s paradise as it is a home to many historical and religious places. It is also culturally enriched in many ways, but the fact that it still lags behind cannot be hidden, when compared to other destinations in the world despite the richness in every aspect. Cuttack is a district in eastern Odisha which has a history of 1000 years, known as the Millennium City as well as the Silver City which can be the best example where Cultural Mapping can be used to enhance the image of the destination. The data collection method used in the study is questionnaire method with a sample of 100 respondents is taken by applying random sampling technique. The objective of the study is to find out the areas where Cuttack’s image as cultural city can be established through the innovative tool of cultural mapping. The result of this research showed that few factors are indicative that can be used in the cultural mapping thereby enhancing the destination’s image.

Twenty Four Approaches for Conservation of Non-Orthodox Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources in Nepal

The conservation of plant genetic diversity underpins the future of agriculture, food and nutrition security and is critical to ensure the ability of future generations to cope with global environmental changes. The conservation efforts were more focused on orthodox crop species in Nepal before 2010. About 40% of agricultural plant genetic resources are non-orthodox, either recalcitrant/ intermediate type or vegetatively propagated plant species. Approaches for conservation of non-orthodox plant species differ from that of orthodox crops. Different conservation approaches have been established by National Agriculture Genetic Resources Center, Nepal for conserving non-orthodox agricultural plant species. We applied household survey, literatures survey, field survey, key informant survey and organized focus group discussion for assessing the different conservation approaches. A total of 24 approaches are being considered for conservation of non-orthodox plant species. Approaches under the ex-situ strategy are field genebank, botanical garden, city park, government farm, religious place, in-vitro culture and evolutionary plant breeding; under on-farm strategy are community field genebank, school field genebank, household field genebank, community/ public orchard, village level field genebank, geographical indication and participatory landrace enhancement, and under in-situ strategy are protected area, Ramsar site, world heritage site, community forest and legal protection for conserving non-orthodox plant species in Nepal. Field genebank is the very good approach, and it has been established in about 20 research stations. It should be extended to government farms and agriculture offices to conserve the local APGRs available in their respective command areas. Databases (passport and characterization) have been generated and will be available online to enhance the utilization in breeding, research and production.

Emotional Intelligence among Under-Graduate Nursing Students: A Descriptive Study

Introduction: Emotional Intelligence helps nurses to recognize and understand their own emotions and that of others. It significantly influences the performance of nursing students and thus the care of the patients. The objective of the study was to assess the emotional intelligence of under-graduate nursing students. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive research design was employed. Using total enumeration technique, 216 under-graduate nursing students were enrolled in the study. Ethical clearance was sought from Ethics Committee of National Institute of Nursing Education. Informed written consent was obtained from each subject. The data was collected using self-administered Dr. Ekta Sharma’s Emotional Intelligence Test (EIT). The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: About 81% of the nursing students obtained average scores, while 19.4% obtained high scores on EIT. The overall mean score on EIT was 207.92 + 14.95 with the range of 159 to 243. Domain wise, most of the nursing students obtained average scores. No significant association was found between EIT score and socio-demographic characteristics, family profile and variables such as reason for opting nursing profession, involvement in recreational activities, going outdoors with family and friends, visits to religious places, presence of support persons, satisfaction with nursing care provided to patients and self-perception. Conclusion: All the nursing students had some level of emotional intelligence. Programs to enhance emotional intelligence skills of nursing students should be organized periodically.

Metal Decorations of Door of Saheb al-Amr Mosque in Tabriz: Azerbaijan Folk Art from Qajar Era

Mosques play a significant role in the lives of Muslims in addition to acting as places of worship. One of the most significant mosques of Azerbaijan region of Iran is Saheb al-Amr Mosque in Tabriz City. The mosque has unique designs of masks, metal hands and praying tablets made of metallic plates which were installed on the mosque door. Considering the inhibition of using portraiture in mosques and holy places, the present study intends to review the technical and artistic qualities as well as reasons behind installation of such designs on the mosque door. The primary questions of present study are concerned with (a) forms and roles of metal works of art installed on the door of Saheb al-Amr Mosque, and (b) reasons of installing these metallic works of art on the mosque door considering the inhibition of using portraiture in religious places. In order to answer these questions, descriptive-analytical method was adopted. The required information and data of this study were collected through field study and library review. The data analysis method is qualitative and results of this study, following collection of data and its analysis, suggest that the metal works of art were made of low-grade silver and brass by adopting different metalworking techniques which were inspired by contemporary art of Qajar era. The importance of the mosque to the public opinion led to installation of such objects in the mosque since they acted as means of indigent Muslims’ vow fulfilling.

A space of transition and transaction

This rejoinder acknowledges the empirical gaps and theoretical/theological disharmony highlighted in the three selected commentaries on Place Spirituality (PS), but we defend our central argument about the developmental pathways of PS. First, we provide an overview of recent studies on PS, highlighting what has been done so far in the field. Second, we draw from the commentaries to advance the understanding of PS in relation to three world religions: Islam, Christianity and Hinduism. Third, we evaluate the normative aspects of PS as a transactional versus transitional phenomenon. Finally, we defend the two contested developmental pathways to PS, involving the compensation and correspondence working models of attachment, while complementing these models using the motivational systems framework. We maintain that these models are relevant for understanding the relationship between religious attachment and place attachment among religious and non-religious people. Recommendations for further studies are made in relation to the broader implications of PS.

From religious to secular place-making: How does the secular matter for religious place construction in the local?

The literature on religious place-making has largely prioritized an emic perspective of religious actors often reducing the secular aspect of such place-making to a mere ‘emptying out’ of religion from public space. Based on ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews with political and religious representatives in Montreuil, one of the flagship towns of the ‘red belt’ of municipalities around Paris, this article looks at secular aspects of religious place construction. The discussion focusses on two practices of secular place-making: defining of religion ‘worthy’ of place and shifting the boundary between public and private space. Comparing the municipality’s interactions with Muslim groups on the one hand, and evangelical churches on the other, I show that politics and sensibilities of the secular towards the religious vary for different religious groups over time. Locality can thus be understood as dynamic mode of secularism, enabling a constant placing and re-placing of religion.

Rationale of Push and Pull Theory Through IT in Tourist Motivations and Destination Attributes: A Case Study of Mcleodganj (HP) As Tourist Destination

Tourism is one of the most attractive as well as growing businesses of the 21st Century. It has ample employment opportunities for an individual as well as revenue generation for the host destination. Push and Pull factors are comprised of the attributes of both tourists as well as the destination. The travel motivation of the tourists basically gives the Push factor for the tourism whereas the special attribute or attraction at destination act as Pull factor for the tourist to visit that place. There could be so many motivations for the tourists to travel a particular destination but the present research paper focuses on travelling for the sake of religious purpose how IT is playing its important role. In this, Mcleodganj being a peaceful place, tourists wish to visit this enchanting tourist spot for both Buddhism as well as Hinduism. With the help of this paper the tourist motivations and the destination attributes with the help of IT that motivate the tourists to visit Mcleodganj with respect to Religious tourism have been identified. This paper also attempts to throw light upon the stakeholder approach with respect to religious tourism in Mcleodganj. For that purpose, 2 questionnaires have been used, one for study the tourism motivation and other to identify the religious destination attributes. The result showed that Mcleodganj is a religious tourism destination having wide range of religious places for both Buddhists as well as Hindus. The paper puts a model depicting the factors contributing to Religious tourism decision making process.

Acceptability of Mental Health Facilities and De-addiction Centers in India.

Not much is known about disease prevalence, treatment outcomes, trained manpower, programs, and patients’ awareness of diseases from South Asia, compared with the Western world. While other aspects are improving, the quantitative evaluation of awareness of diseases is lagging. Compared with other diseases, the situation for mental health disorders and addiction is worse. While no single study can fully quantify all aspects of awareness, a good starting point is to understand if increasing the number of mental health facilities is beneficial by understanding people’s perception toward the likelihood of contracting various diseases, their preferred approach to treatment, and their perception of whether there are enough current facilities. We surveyed over 8000 families across several states of India and asked if they would treat a particular problem at home, visit a local healer, seek religious council, or go to a modern hospital for treatment. Our questions also included non-medical options to assess how likely people are to avoid trained medical help. We also asked people about their perceived likelihood of a family member ever suffering from (1) diarrhea, (2) high fever, (3) alcoholism, and (4) schizophrenia and other mental health problems. We reversed the order of diseases in our questions for a fraction of the population to evaluate the effect of order of questioning. Finally, we asked, if people feel they have enough local healers, religious places, general hospitals, de-addiction centers, and mental health facilities. Despite the taboo around mental health, many people claimed that their family members were unlikely to contract mental health or addiction problems, people recognized the severe paucity of mental health facilities and de-addiction centers. This raises hope for improving the mental health situation in India. We also found a significant relation between education levels and choices people make, underscoring the positive role education has in improving mental health.

What role does touristś educational motivation play in promoting religious tourism among travellers?

ABSTRACT Despite the prevalence of theories based on religious tourism, very little research has been done on educational motivation. Up until now, educational motivation has played a secondary role. Most religious tourism studies hardly mention educational motivation as a driver to visit sacred places. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by analysing its relevance as a key motivation in religious tourism. A total of 242 visitors were interviewed in 2017. The mediator effect of educational motivation is measured and compared with other tourist motivations, such as religious, environmental and rural, and cultural with PLS-SEM. The research discussed here evaluates the direct or indirect effect of educational motivation on touristś learning experience while visiting a religious place, in this case, the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe. The model revealed a strong predictive power (R 2 = 87.5%) and reported an indirect effect between educational motivation, environmental and rural motivation and cultural motivation.

Philosophy of Interior Design in Mughal Era Mosques of Lahore: A case study of Maryam Zamani and Wazir Khan Mosques

A great reflection and convergence of Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture is observed in Mughal architecture, which is known as a remarkably symmetrical and decorative amalgamation of these architectures. Muslim and non-Muslim scholars of history have appreciated, identified and recognized the extremely attractive Mughal signs, decorations and beautifications. It has been observed that Mughal architecture is not limited and specified to mosques only but has been used in all other Islamic buildings including their gardens. These signs and decorations have combined different features, elements and components of Islamic architecture and art together. Mughal era has been known as the greatest era which defined the splendid and extravagant phase of Islamic architecture. Therefore, the basic purpose of this paper is to find out how these features and decorations of Mughal architecture used in mosques stem from Islamic principles. The basic aim is to conduct the semiotic analysis of two mosques of Mughal era which have been selected for examination and identification. Hence, this study outlines the importance and scope of Mughal mosque architecture. It examines the decorative style used in this architecture by scrutinizing the basic characteristics of its structure. Moreover, it discovers the real purpose and spiritual meaning of these mosques. The spiritual values are considered significant as they influence the spirit that brings harmony in life. Throughout the Islamic world, this spiritual aspect has been observed as the most dominant factor and element which gives an important underlying message to all Islamic art. Mughals have played a significant role in Islamic art which cannot be ignored and avoided. The findings indicate that the typical Mughal mosques are not just mere representation of religious buildings or places for worship, instead they are something more than that. These mosques have their spiritual connection with art and architecture which cannot be ignored. Their color, shape, volume, texture, and designs all offer the fundamental message of Islam, the incarnation of “peace” and “submission” from which Mughal mosques derive their uniqueness in architecture.

Fine-grained landuse characterization using ground-based pictures: a deep learning solution based on globally available data

ABSTRACTWe study the problem of landuse characterization at the urban-object level using deep learning algorithms. Traditionally, this task is performed by surveys or manual photo interpretation, which are expensive and difficult to update regularly. We seek to characterize usages at the single object level and to differentiate classes such as educational institutes, hospitals and religious places by visual cues contained in side-view pictures from Google Street View (GSV). These pictures provide geo-referenced information not only about the material composition of the objects but also about their actual usage, which otherwise is difficult to capture using other classical sources of data such as aerial imagery. Since the GSV database is regularly updated, this allows to consequently update the landuse maps, at lower costs than those of authoritative surveys. Because every urban-object is imaged from a number of viewpoints with street-level pictures, we propose a deep-learning based architecture that accepts arbitrary number of GSV pictures to predict the fine-grained landuse classes at the object level. These classes are taken from OpenStreetMap. A quantitative evaluation of the area of Île-de-France, France shows that our model outperforms other deep learning-based methods, making it a suitable alternative to manual landuse characterization.

Pilgrimage in Islam: Traditional and Modern Practices

Pilgrimage in Islam: Traditional and Modern Practices

Pilgrimage in Islam: Traditional and Modern Practices

Pilgrimage in Islam: Traditional and Modern Practices

Kiai Muhaimin and His Outreach Activity of Dakwah for Promoting Moderation and Preventing Conflict: Seeding Pluralism vis-a-vis Preaching Religion

Dakwah (English: Preaching) by Kiai (English: Javanese terminology referring to a Muslim cleric) commonly takes place in mosques, Islamic Boarding Schools, Majlis Taklim, or other Islamic religious forums. The dakwah is practiced mostly by inviting adherents of Islam to be a truly Muslim (Muslim Kaffah), or evoking non-Muslims to convert their religion into Islam for the sake of their salvation in the hereafter. However, a kiai in Yogyakarta who is familiarly called Kiai Muhaimin has practiced a unique style of dakwah. He preaches Islam not only in his in-group communities and habitual places but also in churches and other religious places of worship. His dakwah thus has been reaching a wide range of places of worship of besides Islamic ones. He did not call for non-Muslims to convert to Islam. Rather, he has promoted tolerance and a better understanding of pluralism. Likewise, he aims his religious standpoints on Islam in Muslim communities for seeding actual pluralism among Muslims. He has formulated a conceptual framework of Islamic moderate dakwah as a philosophical basis for building tolerance and coexistence in Indonesian multicultural society and socio-religious life. Through the organization he established, i.e., FPUB (Interfaith Brotherhood Forum), he put into practice such an Islamic moderation.

The Role and Meaning of Religious Architecture in the Umayyad State: Secondary Mosques

Historiography and archaeological research have traditionally defined mosques mainly as religious spaces or places to pray, without further specifications. This simplification has usually dominated the analyses of mosques, while other uses or functional aspects of these buildings were put aside. The scarcity of material information available for years to approach these buildings, together with the dominance of the more monumental examples—such as the great mosque of Córdoba—provoked that analyses about other more modest mosques were scarce or almost inexistent. However, in recent decades, the proliferation of real estate building activities has led to the recovery of many new and fresh archaeological data related to other mosques different from the Friday ones. Specifically, in Córdoba, the volume of information recovered has been enormous, and concerns not only mosques as isolated buildings, but also their urban environments, construction processes, and evolution along the centuries. Therefore, in this paper, we offer a summarized overview of the state of the arts about research on mosques in al-Andalus, presenting the main problems and limitations of the topic until now, and also the case of Córdoba and the main results achieved there as a reference for further actions to be undertaken in the rest of the territory.

The Cultural Identity Construction of Temples for Tourism

Abstract This study presents Buddhist temples’ cultural identify construction to serve a tourism purpose in Thailand. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth interviews with 20 key informants who represented the temples and the tourism organizations. Research findings: The Buddhist temples, which are considered to be the main religious organization, had changed their role to fit the new social trend. In the past, temples were the heart of community lifestyles and the center of religious activity practice. In this present time, however, Buddhist temples become religious tourist places. Carrying such new role, it appears that temples have been trying to establish five cultural identifies with the aim to best serve the tourism. Those five cultural identities are increasing cultural capital value, capturing the tourists’ faith through the presentation of respected monk or abbot, combining Buddhist beliefs to the local faiths, setting up the temple’ tourism landmark, and building a unique tradition of the temple and the community.

The Cultural Identity Construction of Temples for Tourism

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