Religion in Western Ganga kingdom of the eighth tirthankara, Chandraprabha. Padmavati was the "yaksi" of the twenty-third tirthankara, Parshva, and may have been derived from the Hindu namesake. Cult worship is considered consistent with the assimilation of forest and tribal dwellers into the Jain faith and a caste based society. While asceticism was upheld in the earlier period, an increased inflow of endowments from wealthy merchants and royalty made monks more settled in temples. Prayers, chantings, decoration and anointment of the deity in Digambara temples were carried out by upajjhayas or acharyas. In contrast, lay devotees in Svetambara derasars undertook these activities and the temple
Religion in the Middle East (Sunni), 12% Alawite, 5% Druze, and other Islamic sects, 10% Christian (various sects), and there is some Jewish representation (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo). Religion in Turkey is represented by 99.8% Muslim (mostly Sunni and approximately 20% are Alevi), and 0.2% other (mostly Christians and Jews). Originally a militarily secularized government, under the relatively new president Erdogan, religious freedom for Muslims has become much more accessible in Turkey. There has been a growing religious resurgence in Turkey and more and more citizens find significance in their religious identities. The previous laws disallowing the Hijab, religious headscarf, in