Journal of Asiatic Society for Social Science Research
Welcome to the Journal of Asiatic Society for Social Science Research (A component of Asiatic Society for Social Science Research) Online ISSN: 2583-4533 Print ISSN: 3048-9024 NITI Aayog ID: DL/2024/0459814 DOI (Prefix): 10.46700
Asiatic Society for Social Science Research
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">India’s national aspiration, Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047, envisions a future characterized by robust economic growth, technological leadership, and profound social well-being (Mukhopadhyay & Mukhopadhyay 2025). Achieving this holistic transformation necessitates a systemic shift in the educational paradigm, moving beyond the development of technical proficiency to prioritize the cultivation of psychosocial employability. This article employs the psychosocial construct of employability proposed by Fugate, Kinicki, and Ashforth (2004), integrated within Human Capital Theory and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) frameworks, to analyze the requisite educational reforms to fulfill the vision of Viksit Bharat. In 21st century, psychosocial employability and soft skill trainings are as important as other skills (Tushar & Sooraksa, 2023). Empirical evidence highlights the urgent economic cases which are necessary for developed India. Soft skills training has been shown to boost worker productivity by 13.5% (Adhvaryu et al., 2023), yielding a net return to firms of 256% (Adhvaryu, et al., 2023). Conversely, the failure to address the skill deficit results in alarming rates of mental health issues, including anxiety (61.8%) and depression (54.4%) among educated, unemployed youth (Biswas et al., 2024). While the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mandates the integration of these skills, critical implementation barriers exist, notably the resistance to pedagogical change, insufficient funding (Kaur, 2024), and significant challenges related to the psychometric validity of proposed 360-degree holistic assessments (Nowack & Mashihi, 2012). The analysis concludes that strategic, sustained educational reforms, focused on rigorous teacher training and curriculum integration informed by international models, are essential to unlock the demographic dividend and establish psychosocial resilience as the non-negotiable foundation of Viksit Bharat.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ranjan Kumar (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
An Anthropological Study of Affective Relations between Humans and Hemp in Uttarakhand
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">Hemp holds a significant place among the local communities of Uttarakhand through their traditional knowledge systems. The present study encompasses a plant-centered anthropological analysis of hemp cultivation in Uttarakhand through intimate engagement with the hemp plants, and at the same time, developing a feeling for or an ethics of care towards the hemp plants. In this study, the limits of conventional ethnographic study carried out from an anthropocentric perspective have been pushed and directed beyond the human towards the affective connection between human beings and hemp plants, which can equivocally socialise and sense as the humans. The chapter also delves into the intricate and multifaceted relationship among hemp plant, local peoples, and their environment through the concept of affective ecology. The legal restrictions or societal stigma on hemp may evoke feelings of frustration or defiance, while growing acceptance and legalization will contribute to positive affective experiences in the field study areas. The affective ecology between hemp plants and humans, despite of the existing legal restrictions and societal stigma, contribute to a deeper sense of connection with the environment.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Madhushree Barik (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Impact of Digital Inequality on Sustainability Education
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">This qualitative research paper explores the impact of digital inequality on sustainability education in urban and rural education. This study based on the in-depth interview of 32 teachers and 48 students at eight schools (four urban, four rural) in three districts demonstrates that access to digital resources and the quality of the sustainability education delivery and engagement with the environmental ideas among students vary considerably. The results show that, although urban students enjoy the advantages of robust digital infrastructure that supports interactive sustainability programs, rural students have to grapple with significant challenges such as poor internet connectivity, obsolete technology and poor access to virtual environmental opportunities. Nevertheless, the countryside exhibits specific advantages of experiential and place-based sustainability education. The research ends with suggestions to address the digital divide and to capitalize on the unique strengths of each environment to improve sustainability education outcomes.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Amarnath Das, Ranajit Dhara (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">This paper aims to understand how ‘BTS’ and their international fan base, ‘ARMY’, have proven to be a significant element in modern cultural diplomacy, arguing that participatory audiences have transformed the dynamics of soft power in the digital era. This article seeks to address three critical objectives: first, to uncover how BTS has become an inseparable part of global Korean cultural expansion; second, how ‘ARMY’ has been used to cement a collective sense of Korean identity; and third, how K-pop has been institutionalised as a diplomatic tool to promote the national interests of South Korea through the mechanism BTS and its strong decentralised network called ‘Army’. The study is based on qualitative desk research and a literature synthesis of studies on cultural diplomacy, K-pop, and fandom, along with quantitative indicators like Spotify streams and social media data. The article sheds light on Kenneth Waltz's ‘Constructivism’ theory and Benedict Anderson's conceptualisation of ‘Imagined Community’, and shows how ‘BTS’ and ‘ARMY’ represent a paradigm shift in twenty-first-century diplomacy, where entertainment, emotional attachment, and participatory culture align with the larger strategic national objectives. The article theorises ‘ARMY’ without arms as non-coercive but strong soft power, which is premised on connectivity, common values, and a sense of belonging instead of conventional tools of state power. It explores the actions of ‘BTS’ and its ‘ARMY’ as a joint convergence space, based on the ‘convergence culture’ framework articulated by Henry Jenkins, that actively supports the growth of Korean branding across the world.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Suvasish Chakraborty, Nandini Sen (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This paper reconsiders the history of Mewar by treating it as a religious site rather than primarily a battlefield kingdom. It argues that Mewar’s sacred landscape, its temples, inscriptions, ritual economies, and oral repertoires, constituted a coherent sacred order that existing, martial-focused historiographies have only partially perceived. Using inscriptions (from Samoli to the Raj Prashasti), temple complexes at Eklingji, Nagda, and Chittorgarh, the sacred-industrial complex of Zawar, the refuge haveli of Shrinathji at Nathdwara, and fieldwork-based oral histories from sites such as Jagdish and Baan Mata, the study reconstructs what it terms Mewar’s “sacred economy” and “refuge kingship.” It shows that Brahmanical temple institutions, Sasan land grants, Bhil ritual covenants, pastoral Phad traditions, and Mirabai-centred devotional communities operated as distinct but interlocking channels through which a theology of divine trusteeship and absentee sovereignty was institutionalised and lived. Methodologically, the paper combines close reading of epigraphic and architectural evidence with ethnographic attention to oral narrative and ritual practice. In doing so, it reframes key Mewari sites and texts as parts of a single religious constitution and proposes Mewar as a critical case for understanding how pre-modern South Asian polities sustained religious identity under prolonged external pressure.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Madan Kumar, Dr Darshana Choudhury, Sumit Kumar, Naman Singhal, Purbasha Mukherji (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This study investigates the endangerment of the Mech language, a socio-ethnolinguistic speech community in West Bengal, through an ethnographic lens focusing on the interplay of language, identity, and power. Despite being classified as a dialect of Bodo, Mech exhibits distinct socio-cultural characteristics and faces declining vitality due to socio-economic pressures and the dominance of languages such as Bengali in West Bengal. Fieldwork in Chyakamari village reveals a diglossic linguistic environment where Mech is confined to informal and ritual domains, while dominant languages occupy formal and institutional spaces. The research highlights intergenerational shifts in language use, identity negotiation through code-switching, and the impact of linguistic capital on language choice. The findings underscore that Mech language endangerment reflects broader socio-cultural transformations, signalling the need for both community-driven and institutional efforts to preserve linguistic and cultural heritage.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Nilanjana Roy Chowdhury (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Ritual Sovereignty and Visual Transference
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This paper examines the formation and consolidation of polity in medieval Garhwal (c. 9th–16th century CE) through the lens of visual culture, architectural continuity, and goddess worship. This study, moving beyond the usual focus on limited written records and inscriptions, emphasizes physical and spatial evidence from important sites like Chandpur Garhi, Devalgarh, and Ranihat (Srinagar). Based on fieldwork and architectural analysis, the research suggests that the move of the capital in Garhwal involved a process of ritual and visual transfer, particularly through the spread of the Rajarajeshwari/Goddess cult. At Chandpur Garhi, the idea of rule seems to be linked to a fortified and ritual space, while at Devalgarh, it is expressed through a temple-centered spatial organization. Using models of early medieval political development, the paper argues that in the Himalayan region, authority was established through the landscape, the movement of cults, and visual representation. It proposes that polity formation in Garhwal operated through a ritual-topographic logic in which sacred geography and architectural continuity played a central role in legitimizing political power.
Copyright (c) 2026 Soham Dutta (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Some Reflections on Famines as Climatic Catastrophes
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">India experienced a series of natural disasters, mainly caused by monsoon failure or excess, in the form of famines, which threatened the livelihoods of people and shook the foundations of the economic and political system. As a foundation for understanding how climate affected production, triggered catastrophic events, and shaped the political landscape in Mughal India, this paper examines the idea of climate as it prevailed during the Mughal period and how it differs from today. This paper also maps various famines and their magnitudes based on contemporary sources caused by climatic anomalies, mainly monsoon failure, in different parts of the country, especially in the Eastern and Northern parts, apart from some scanty references from southern or other parts of the country. It has been found that climatic anomalies, uncertainties, and pulsations were quite prevalent in the Mughal period as well, eventually leading to devastating famines, deaths, destitution, and loss of life and livelihood. Moreover, the political apparatus was both reluctant and proactive in some cases, but what was certainly evident was the State's will to avert such calamities through various initiatives like constant expansion of cultivation through encouragement and incentives, assistance during calamities, stocking of grains, etc., to prevent loss of revenue, and thus political holds.
Copyright (c) 2026 Tanmoy Mondal (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
An Iconographic Study of Some Undocumented Vārāhī Sculptures from Dakshin Dinajpur District
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">Vārāhī, the boar-faced goddess is regarded as one of the prominent mother goddesses in the group of Saptamātṛkā or Aṣṭamatṛkā (seven or eight mother goddesses) and occupies a crucial role in early medieval Sculptures of Bengal. Number of independent Vārāhī sculptures apart from the mātṛkā panel found till the date is decent. The deity is often seen seated in lalitāsana posture with her attributes. Many sculptures of the deity are securely preserved in various museums whereas some of newly findings remain undocumented. This paper deals with the iconography of three undocumented Vārāhī sculptures found from different parts of Dakshin Dinajpur District during field visit by the authors.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sthitirupa Saha, Shubhjeet Das (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This research aims to analyse the celebrated combination of aesthetics, visual representation, and textual interpretation (as in the Kalika Purana) in its historical context at the Kamakhya Temple complex in Assam, which may not be confined to, or considered merely, decorative sculptures. Still, the visual model of philosophical paradigms: a place of worship, a form of yantra for rituals, and the Iconography of temple sculptures as the Indian Knowledge system. Shaktism is one of the significant doctrines, in which devotees’ faith centres on the Mother Goddess, in the form of Shakti (energy) and the Supreme Brahman (the absolute creator). The study has been carried out through qualitative methods to interpret the textual and visual analysis of the canonical texts of Kalika Purana, Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Shakta Upanishads and Yogini Tantra, along with the spatial manifestations of significant sculptures and the temple complex. The analysis suggests that the Kamakhya temple symbolically enshrines the “Yoni” (reproductive organ) of Mother goddess “Sati”, presumably, the source and beginning of vitality, as the axis of the tantric-Sakta tradition. Besides, the Kamakhya Temple complex, being a sacred place of worship and a site of tantric cosmogony, is also a representation of a rooted sculptural tradition within the Indian knowledge system, where the complex itself is a manifestation of the ‘Yoni-Yantra’, a Sakta-tantric mandala comprising the Ten Mahavidyas.
Copyright (c) 2026 Meghata Mishra, Dr Rajan Kumar Vaidhya (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Continuity and Change in Mortuary Practices during the Neolithic Iron Age Transition in Karnataka
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This article examines continuity and change in mortuary practices during the Neolithic–Iron Age transition in Karnataka. Neolithic burials are generally simple, including pit and urn burials with limited grave goods, while Iron Age Megalithic burials show more complex structures and richer material remains. Evidence from sites such as Hallur, Brahmagiri, and Maski suggests both continuity and transformation. While some earlier traditions continued, new burial forms reflect increasing social complexity. The study argues that the transition was gradual rather than abrupt.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ranadhir Sikdar (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">The Ahom dynasty was established by Sukapha (1228-1268) in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam in the year 1226. The dynasty reigned in Assam till 1826 and was the longest-reigning dynasty of Assam, ruling for 600 years. They were not the indigenous population of Assam but migrated from Yunnan Province, China. Upon their arrival, they settled and assimilated into the indigenous population, becoming one amongst them through the process called Ahomisation. The Ahoms devised an administrative system to engage and use labor for the state's purpose. This system came to be known as the Paik System, in which able-bodied men aged 16 to 50 were employed by the state for both civilian and military roles. The Paik system is unique to the Ahoms, as its arrangement is peculiar, and they were divided into groups known as Khels, according to the specialization of the jobs performed by them. The present paper explores the impact of the Paik system on the administration, economy, and military of the Ahom dynasty. The objectives of the paper are to understand the arrangements of the Paik system and highlight its role in the smooth functioning of the dynasty. The papers establish the integrality of the Paik system through which division of labor, as per its special function, is observed.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sravana Atreya (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">In the late 19th century with the study of criminology, the new idea of positivist thought about criminal and criminal science had evolved, which brings out a scientific approach to understanding the criminal and the crime. In the case of India, Colonial distrust for Indian people pushed the colonial courts to take scientific help in court proceedings. By the 1850s, in Britain the use of forensic technology to solve a crime had become common. The judges and jurists were not scientists, or they did not have the expertise to understand the procedures of a particular crime. So, in 1872 the Indian Evidence Act was created under sec. 45 to sec. 51 which provided relevancy of opinion of a third person (an expert of a particular field) in the court, with the condition that the person had to be an ‘expert’. But the act had not clarified who an ‘expert’ is, which created much problem for the early proceedings. Even though this ‘third person’ was supposed to be an ‘expert’, his opinion was dependent on him, but its admissibility was dependent on the court. So, this article ventures through some case studies and along with a brief understanding of the act, tries to see its limitations in the name of its admissibility, its dark side as such of corruption and personal gain with pseudo-scientists and political influence and effects on its understanding. The article also speaks about this act’s possibilities and a better path to understand a crime for better judgment.
Copyright (c) 2026 Tiyas Dey (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
An Ethnographic Study of Funeral Practices among the Paniya tribe in Malappuram District, Kerala
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">Funeral rituals are important cultural practices that reflect a community’s beliefs about death and the afterlife. This paper examines the funeral practices of the Paniya tribe in Malappuram district, Kerala. The study is based on field observations, oral survey, secondary sources, and it documents the sequence and meaning of rituals performed after death. Among the paniyas, death is understood as a transition rather than an end, which is evident in their multi-stage ritual process. These include rituals conducted at home, burial practices, the aattu ceremony involving an oracle, adiyantharam, and a final ceremony held after one or two years. The rituals involve offerings, fasting, and active participation of family and community members. Variations in practices based on social roles are also observed. The study highlights how these rituals express cultural values and how deeply connected people are to their traditions, faith, and cultural identity. By documenting the funeral practice, it is possible to understand the belief system, post-death rituals and customs paniya tribe in Malappuram district.
Copyright (c) 2026 Nandini N. (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">Post office can be considered as the mother of all-modern medium of communication. It played a significant role in the development of any nation. Its role particularly in the then Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim is noteworthy, where the communication networks were traditional in nature. While tracing the historical background of postal development in Sikkim, the British played a significant role in its establishment despite the true intention behind this was purely military. However, later it became the important means of communication that helped the social, political, and economic development of the then kingdom. With such significance attached to it the historical backgrounds of postal development have not been thoroughly researched which has created a glaring lacuna in understanding of history of Communication in the region. Therefore, the present paper intends to study the historical background of the postal developments in Sikkim highlighting different military expeditions, its impact and contributions on the opening of the postal networks. This research is carried out through appropriate historical methodology based on the analysis of both primary and the secondary sources.
Copyright (c) 2026 Aastha Rai, Dr Anira Phipon Lepcha (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Emergency, Newspapers, and Public Sphere
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This study is an attempt to examine the imposition of the Emergency in India (1975–1977) and its coverage in newspapers and impact on the public sphere. The paper tries to analyze the press coverage of the Financial Express and the Economic Times. Jürgen Habermas's concept of the public sphere is as a space for rational-critical debate. Further, it investigates how censorship curtails open discussions while newspapers continued to report on political developments. This research traces the roots of emergency from the Allahabad High Court verdict, JP movement tensions, and Indira Gandhi's response, including pre-censorship, MISA detentions, and propaganda via the 20-Point Programme. The Financial Express covered the easing of restrictions in early 1977, Lok Sabha dissolution, Morarji Advani's release, and relaxation of Emergency measures. It also deals with pre-Emergency reports of The Economic Times on Congress infighting and JP's 7-point demands in March 1975, and post-Emergency appeals to support the Janata Party in February 1977. The Emergency uncovered vulnerability of press under authoritarianism. It also showed that even constrained reporting sustained fragments of discourse, aiding democracy's restoration in longer run. This period of emergency serves to us as cautionary lesson on protecting media freedom as essential to an open public sphere.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sonam Topgey Kharm, Abhishek Gupta (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
A SWOT Analysis on Ethics in Artificial Intelligence in Education
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">Artificial Intelligence (AI) turns into a changing factor in the education sector. It is bringing efficiency and personalization to it, but another aspect of it is causing serious ethical issues. The issue presented in the current research is the fact that there is no clarity or agreement on ethical principles by which AI should be designed, deployed, and managed, especially in regard to bias, transparency, accountability, and trust. The research questions will be to explore the ethical strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of AI into education, and particularly in transparency, accountability and mitigation of bias. The research design of the study was a qualitative, conceptual research design conducted in the approach of SWOT analysis through systematic review of peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and institutional reports published in 2013-2024. Findings show that the strong aspects of ethical AI are the increasing concern about transparency, explainable AI, and accountability models, and the weak points are algorithmic bias, secrecy, and disjointed responsibility. Emerging forms of governance and human-focused AI are opportunities, and threats are unregulated commercialization, surveillance, and distrust of people. As discussed, ethical AI should not be treated as an addition to design but as a fundamental principle in the design. The paper has a value in that it proposes a systematic ethical analysis model of AI in education using the SWOT. The next generation of studies ought to empirically prove the ethical AI models in the learning setting. The paper draws a conclusion that to implement AI responsibly, it is necessary to have sustained ethical governance, inclusive regulation, and human-centred design.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Nandini Banerjee, Susmita Rakshit (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Structural and Semantic Significance of Gaṇasūtra within the Gaṇapāṭha of Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">The Gaṇapāṭha serves as an essential lexical database for Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī, enabling a generative system of Sanskrit grammar through the principle of lāghava (economy). This paper investigates the structural and semantic significance of Gaṇasūtras—specific rules and conditions embedded directly within these lexical lists. It argues that Gaṇasūtras are sophisticated localized directives that refine general morphological operations. By distinguishing between closed groups (Baddha Gaṇas) and open groups (Ākṛtigaṇas), the Gaṇapāṭha balances theoretical brevity with descriptive linguistic realism. The analysis also provides a statistical overview of the corpus, exploring the distribution of internal rules and their enduring relevance in modern computational linguistics.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Nilesh Joshi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
This paper explores small enterprises in colonial southern Bengal to understand the market dynamics and socio-cultural history of the region. For this purpose, colonial economic policy and the nature of exploitation are the key elements that critically analyze market structure and decline the traditional industry. This dynamic helps to understand the industrial and commercial scenario in the southern Bengal province. Exploring the history of markets not only reflects the economic and spatial transformations of society but also provides insights into social, cultural, and ecological dynamics. The study explores various societal aspects of markets and enterprises, rigorously examining the relationship between the state and its local inhabitants. It also addresses the ruling authority's strategies and their interaction with labor history. The market was structured and reshaped by the introduction of railways, plantation economies, and European capital investments. British economic policies prioritized the extraction of raw materials over local industrial growth, resulting in an economic imbalance where Bengal became a supplier of raw materials rather than a hub of finished goods production. Cultural history narrates the lived experiences of people, making it a key parameter for revisiting the colonial paradox. This research argues that marketing systems function as integral units of social, cultural, and political organization—where power, influence, and identity are negotiated and reshaped. The gradual transformation of relationships between the colonial state and Indigenous society forms another core focus of this study.
Copyright (c) 2026 Aparna Halder (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">In India, the relationship between puppets and their puppeteers is deeply rooted in both tradition and the act of storytelling. For Indian puppeteers, puppetry is not merely an enactment where inanimate objects are manipulated to narrate a story; it indeed reflects a symbiotic relationship where the puppet and the puppeteer are intimately linked through a common creative experience. In many traditional Indian puppet forms, and especially in Putul Naach of Bengal with which this paper is specifically concerned, the puppet itself ceases to remain just an extension of the puppeteer with a borrowed voice. However, when seen through the lens of New Materialism and Thing Theory, one may argue that the puppet possesses an inherent agency, whether it is through its design, materiality, or the stories it relates that need to be heard. The puppeteer, therefore, is not a master controlling the puppet but also a medium or a liminal entity through which the puppet’s own materiality and individuality comes to life. This interconnectedness between the object and its manipulator portrays a deeper cultural belief where the line between the animate and inanimate often blurs, carving a space for both to co-exist and co-create meaning within the context of performance. Also, by analysing the puppet as a "thing," we move beyond the idea of the puppet as a mere medium through which the performer communicates a story. Instead, the puppet itself assumes the role of an active participant in shaping the narrative. With the use of the aforementioned theoretical frameworks and the concept of the sutradhar in Bengal puppetry, this paper attempts to probe into the question of how the puppet becomes a form of agency that challenges and subverts the hierarchical understanding of power dynamics which is otherwise thought to be traditionally entrenched in this theatrical form.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Archita Banerjee (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">This paper examines the formation of modern Indian art through the intersecting dynamics of institutional structures, cultural nationalism, and imaginative practice. Rather than treating modernism as a linear stylistic progression, it approaches it as a field shaped by negotiation between colonial epistemologies and indigenous aesthetic traditions. The emergence of the Bengal School is read as a response to Western academic realism, articulating a national visual identity while also revealing the limits of revivalist frameworks. The discussion then turns to Santiniketan, where a shift from stylistic definition to shared concerns, experiential learning, and relational practice becomes evident, aligning with the idea of contextual modernism. The paper further analyses the post-independence institutionalisation of art within the framework of nation-building, highlighting how cultural institutions and educational systems often prioritised representation and standardisation over experimentation. This results in a persistent tension between institutional regulation and imaginative freedom. By bringing these strands together, the study argues that modern Indian art is best understood as an ongoing process of negotiation rather than a fixed category. It concludes by suggesting the need to rethink institutions as enabling structures and to recognise imagination as a socially embedded practice central to the evolving discourse of art.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Bilasendu Shil (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">Patachitra is a centuries-old folk-art form of Bengal and Odisha, that integrates visual art painted on the scroll or pata with the narrative sung by the patuas or scroll painters. The patuas or chitrakars, the practitioners of this oral tradition, are basically the itinerants who travel from village to village unfolding the scrolls and singing the patua gaan or song based on scroll painting that is essentially embedded in mythology, local historical events, socio-cultural concerns or activities related to local geographical landscape. A distinctive feature of Patachitra is its seamless merging of environmentally rooted knowledge with oral story telling practices. As an eco-oral tradition of Bengal, it represents a rich reservoir of indigenous ecological knowledge, cultural memory and sustainable practices that has the potential to create environmental awareness and shape climate futures. Using an interdisciplinary framework, combining Eco-oral studies with indigenous knowledge system, this study attempts to explore the ecological concerns embedded in various scrolls thereby establishing Patachitra as an environmental memory archive that preserves ecological wisdom and ethics. The study also aims at identifying numerous ways in which Patachitra as a community reservoir of indigenous ecological knowledge contributes in creating climate futures. Thereby, the study seeks in suggesting policy formulating that will aid in canonizing the community’s ecological wisdom trapped in the visual and oral format towards developing future climate studies.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mayurakshi Mitra (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">What does the city feel like from the wrong end of caste? This article addresses that question through original empirical research and a multi-theoretical framework rooted in Dalit studies, feminist epistemology, and critical urban sociology. It focuses on Bengali Dalit communities living at the peripheries of Kolkata and the wider metropolitan region. Drawing on mixed-methods fieldwork involving one hundred respondents, the article advances four arguments. First, West Bengal’s urban periphery is not a zone of mere economic disadvantage; it is a caste space — socially produced through the convergence of untouchability’s spatial logic, the political economy of post-1971 Dalit refugee resettlement, and the durable hegemony of bhadralok cultural formation. Second, the Left Front’s analytical reduction of caste to class was not merely a theoretical error but a structural exclusion: it systematically depoliticised caste grievance and rendered Dalit spatial claims illegible within the dominant frameworks of socialist urbanism. Third, Dalit women within these communities endure a compounded marginalisation that cannot be captured by either caste analysis or gender analysis alone; a Dalit feminist standpoint, following Sharmila Rege, is epistemologically necessary to grasp this constitutive entanglement. Fourth, West Bengal’s mainstream urban planning apparatus has been structurally incapable — and in significant degree institutionally unwilling — to recognise caste as a category of spatial analysis, thereby reproducing the very inequalities it nominally seeks to address. The theoretical apparatus draws on B. R. Ambedkar’s sociology of caste as a self-reproducing system of graded inequality, Lefebvre’s theory of the social production of space, Bourdieu’s concepts of symbolic violence and habitus, Anupama Rao’s account of Dalit politics and modern India, Gopal Guru’s phenomenology of humiliation, and the growing tradition of Dalit feminist scholarship. The article concludes by proposing the outlines of a caste-conscious urbanism adequate to West Bengal’s particular social geography.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Antara Ray (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Recontextualising the Arctic as Global Common
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">The Arctic has emerged as a critical arena of environmental transformation and geopolitical competition which is further amplified by climate change. This paper presents a case to examine the Arctic as a global common within a sovereignty-based international order. Using a qualitative analysis of legal frameworks, institutional arrangements, and secondary academic and policy literature, the study applies the concepts of global commons, state sovereignty, and contested commons. The paper argues that while the Arctic functions ecologically as a global common, its governance remains territorially anchored and fragmented. The analysis focuses on the roles of the Arctic Council and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in shaping regional governance, showing how cooperation coexists with rising geopolitical competition. It further highlights perspectives from India and the Global South that emphasize climatic interdependence, equity, and broader participation. The paper therefore conceptualizes the Arctic as a contested common, where global climatic significance contrasts with a governance system structured primarily around territorial authority.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mehak Singh (Translator); Dr Prashant Shahi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Role of Temple Sculptures in Narrating Mythology and Cultural History
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-bidi-language: ar-SA; mso-ligatures: none;">Temple sculptures serve not merely as decorative adornments of sacred architecture but as a profound medium for visual storytelling narrating mythology, encoding cosmological symbolism, and reflecting social and cultural history. Through carefully carved deities, mythic narratives, celestial beings, dancers, everyday life scenes, and symbolic motifs, sculptures transform a temple into a three-dimensional text that communicates religious beliefs, moral values, cosmic order, and societal life across generations. These sculptural narratives help preserve collective memory, transmit cultural heritage, reinforce religious identities, and offer insights into socio-economic, artistic, and spiritual milieus of their times. In this way, temple sculpture becomes both a spiritual bridge between the human and divine and a historical record of the civilization that created it.
Copyright (c) 2026 Raju Chatarsing Pardeshi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This paper examines the representation of royal women in Malayalam-language print media of colonial Kerala during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with particular focus on the magazine Lakshmibai. It argues that male reformers and writer-idealists strategically deployed the figures of royal women — both contemporary, such as Queen Victoria and the ranis of Travancore, and historical — as vehicles for propagating an emergent domestic ideology centred on the nuclear, patriarchal family. Drawing on life profiles, advice essays, and biographical narratives published in Lakshmibai, the paper traces how these royal figures were systematically decontextualised: stripped of their matrilineal inheritance, political agency, and public authority, and recast as ideal wives, caring mothers, and efficient household managers. The paper further demonstrates that this representational strategy was not incidental but purposeful — the social prestige and popular reverence attached to monarchy made royal women the most persuasive models for domestic emulation. In doing so, the writers participated in the broader colonial and nationalist discourse that constructed the home as the inner sanctum of cultural identity, assigning women the role of its guardians. The paper contributes to scholarship on domesticity in colonial India by foregrounding the specific dynamics of a princely-state context and by revealing how matrilineal social structures were quietly erased in the service of a patriarchal domestic ideal.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mariatta Nazareth (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Evolution of Saptamatrika Iconography in the Vidisha Region
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">This paper examines the evolution of Saptamatrika iconography in the Vidisha region within the larger context of Shakta traditions, emphasizing the relationship among textual guidelines, local customs and tangible artefacts. While existing scholarship has largely emphasized descriptive and text-based analyses, this study adopts a comprehensive method that incorporates iconographic analysis, archaeological findings, and literary material to understand the historical processes influencing the evolution of Saptamatrika. This research claims that Saptamatrika didn’t emerged as a stable and uniform entity but evolved gradually from local mother goddess traditions (mātṛgaṇa) associated with fertility, protection and liminal spaces. Sculptural findings from locations like Udayagiri, Pathari, and Besnagar exhibit initial shapes defined by limited distinction and shared identity, indicating an experimental and transitional stage. Over time, especially during the Gupta and early medieval eras, these forms became more organized, showcasing distinct characteristics and connections to major Brahmanical gods. A significant contribution of this research is the gap between written traditions and physical representations, indicating that iconographic standardization wasn't solely influenced by texts but developed through local artistic customs and religious integration and comprehending the evolution of Saptamatrika iconography and the wider processes of religious change in early India.
Copyright (c) 2026 Soham Bhande, Preeti Kumari, Milnath Patere (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
A Comparative Analysis of Global Deluge Myths
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">Traditions from all over the world contain narratives of a ‘Great Flood’ that fit into larger cultural narratives, and such an event has been a topic of speculation for centuries. This study does not aim to prove or disprove the validity of these traditions, but rather to examine the thematic and contextual similarities and differences among these deluge traditions from around the world. This study analyses the deluge myths across Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Biblical, Indian, and Mesoamerican traditions. It explores the possibility that these narratives emerged either from shared cultural transmission or from collective memories of real catastrophic flood events. By drawing on primary texts like the Atrahasis legend and the Epic of Gilgamesh, among others, and secondary scholarship, this study adopts a comparative and thematic approach. By employing multiple theoretical and analytical frameworks, including naturalistic, structural, psychological, historico-comparative, phylogenetic, linguistic, and feminist approaches, the study identifies recurring motifs, shared narrative structures, and culturally specific variations. It highlights the universal patterns underlying flood myths while also emphasizing their cultural meanings.
Copyright (c) 2026 Abigail Emmanuel (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Architecture and the Symbolic Perspective of Gajaprishtha Temples
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">According to Percy Brown, “Architecture is the matrix of civilisation”, which thoroughly indicates that it is the fundamental foundation of a society. The architectural aspects of a society or dynasty reflect a great deal of the cultural and intellectual ideas of the people, the influences the region experienced and even the environmental and geographical features. Kerala is renowned for its architectural beauty and uniqueness. The temple architecture of the region epitomises the architectural and artistic knowledge of the people and the influences of the contemporary dynasties on it. This paper explores the temple architecture of Kerala, with a particular focus on the Gajaprishtha (apsidal) style temples found in Thrissur district. This architectural form has been practised across the Indian subcontinent since the time of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The study briefly traces the evolution of this architectural style and explores the symbolic meanings behind its design and construction. As part of the research, a field survey was carried out, during which four previously undocumented apsidal temples were recorded in Thrissur district.
Copyright (c) 2026 Anupama Anil Kumar (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
<span lang="en-IN" style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-default-font-family: Tahoma; mso-ascii-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latin-font-family: Tahoma; mso-greek-font-family: Tahoma; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Tahoma; mso-armenian-font-family: Tahoma; mso-thai-font-family: Tahoma; mso-currency-font-family: Tahoma; mso-latinext-font-family: Tahoma; color: black; mso-style-textfill-type: solid; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; language: en-IN; mso-ansi-language: en-IN; mso-ligatures: none;">In just four years (1320-1324), Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq built Tughlaqabad, a fortress city of staggering scale, designed to be his new capital and an impregnable defense against the Mongol invasions. Within six years of its completion, the city was abandoned. Yet when Ibn Battuta visited the site in 1322, he described it as a place of wonder: a palace of golden bricks and a tank of molten gold. The truth of these claims matters less than what they reveal: within a decade of its desertion, Tughlaqabad had already passed into legend, remembered as an excess of wealth, ambition and fear. This paper argues that Tughlaqabad was a fortress first and city second. Drawing on contemporary chronicles like Ibn Battuta, Barani, archeological excavation records and scholarships, I examine how the city’s design prioritized defense over urban life. The massive sloping walls, rocky location, fortress palace layout and isolated tomb and the frantic pace of construction all point to a capital built for defense that left the city poorly supplied with water and ultimately uninhabitable. Tughlaqabad, I will argue in my paper reveals a ruler who built from compulsion and not from confidence. A king so consumed by distrust that he created a city capable of defending against every enemy except for the wellbeing of the habitants: his own inability to trust, wait to build for life rather than survival. The city stands today not just as a failed capital but as the petrified remains of royal paranoia, a place where fear itself became an architecture.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sampurnaa Sanyal (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0