Hindu temple architecture

A gopuram or gopura is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the Dravidian architecture of South India, and Sri Lanka. In temples in other parts of India, they might be present but are more modest, while they are often the highest parts of the temple in the south. They also appear in architecture outside India such as the Khmer architecture in South East Asia.

Architecture and design-related texts of India

300px|thumb|Sondani, two [[Dvarapalas, circa 525 CE.]] 300px|thumb|right|One of two pairs of dvarapala, 9th century Buddhist temple of Plaosan, [[Java, Indonesia.]]

construction produced by the Khmers during the Angkor period

thumb|right|Open mandapa with pillars and courtyard. A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture and Nepalese Pagoda Design, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture and Jain temple architecture.

A torana (tawr-uh-nuh) is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. Chinese Shanmen gateways, Japanese torii gateways, Korean Iljumun and Hongsalmun gateways, Vietnamese Tam quan gateways, and Thai Sao Ching Cha may have derived from the Indian torana. They are also referred to as vandanamalikas.

thumb|right|Devotees offering prayers at the garbhagriha in Chennakeshava Temple, Belur, which houses the icon of the god [[Vishnu.]]

thumb|right|Latina (architecture)|Latina in Khajuraho

building style developed under the rule of the Hoysala Empire between the 11th and 14th centuries, in the region known today as Karnataka, in India

thumb|Double amalaka at the top of the Devi Jagadambi Temple at [[Khajuraho]] thumb|Prominent amalakas at the Siddheshwar Mukteshwar Group Temple, Bhubaneswar An amalaka (), is a segmented or notched stone disk, usually with ridges on the rim, that sits on the top of a Hindu temple's shikhara or main tower. According to one interpretation, the amalaka represents a lotus, and thus the symbolic seat for the deity below. Another interpretation is that it symbolizes the sun, and is thus the gateway to the heavenly world.

the art, practice, and elements in the planning, designing and building of Hindu temples

sanctuary of later Indian temples. The term may also be used for earlier Indian temples as a whole, including sanctuary and attached porches

thumb|right|Kirtimukha at Kasivisvesvara Temple at Lakkundi, [[Gadag district, Karnataka, India]] Kirtimukha (Sanskrit: कीर्तिमुख ,', also ', a bahuvrihi compound translating to "glorious face") is the name of a swallowing fierce face with huge fangs, and gaping mouth, very common in the iconography of Hindu temple architecture in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and often also found in Buddhist architecture.

architectural idiom that emerged in the Southern part of the Indian subcontinent or South India, consisting primarily of temples with pyramid shaped towers

park in Pattaya, Thailand

thumb|right|500px|Architecture of Khajuraho temples with the antarala between the shikhara and the mandapas Antarala (Sanskrit: अन्तराल; ) is a small antechamber or foyer between the garbhagriha (shrine) and the mandapa, more typical of north Indian temples.

thumb|A group of surasundaris on Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho|Lakshmana Temple in [[Khajuraho]]

mosque of Gujarat, India

thumb|A Hindu flag from the temple Maa Naina Devi, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India|260x260px thumb|220px|right|Dhvaja (Victory banner) – pole design with silk scarfs, on the background the Potala Palace

wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples

style of architecture from the 11th and 12th century Western Chalukya Empire in modern central Karnataka, India

thumb|right|400px|Simplified schema of a Kalinga architecture temple Deula is an architectural element in a Hindu temple in the Kalinga architecture style of the Odishan temples in Eastern India. Sometimes the whole temple is also referred to as Deula. The word "deula" in Odia language means a building structure built with a particular style that is seen in most of the temples from Odisha. Deul is also used in English, though the deul temples are also of a different form in the Manbhum region of Western Bengal.

thumb|The Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi|Sri Vidhya Rajagopalaswamy Temple Hindu temple in the Town of [[Mannargudi in southern India|280x280px]] Kovil or koyil (meaning: residence of god) is the Tamil term for a distinct style of Hindu temple with Dravidian architecture.

type of sanctuary, communal or religious resthouse

thumb|Negeshvara (near) and Chennakeshava (far), Hoysala dynasty, 11th century. thumb| Ornate ceiling in Chennakesava temple, 11th century. thumb|Keshava temple, 11th century thumb|Kedareshvara temple, Hoysala dynasty, 11th century. thumb|Chennakeshava temple, 11th century.

traditional system of Indian architecture as described in Hindu texts

Indian temple architect (1927–2011)

layout in Hindu temple architecture

style in Hindu temple architecture

thumb|right|The earliest surviving chaitya arch, at the entrance to the Lomas Rishi Cave, 3rd century BC In Indian architecture, gavaksha or chandrashala (kudu in Tamil, also nāsī) are the terms most often used to describe the motif centred on an ogee, circular or horseshoe arch that decorates many examples of Indian rock-cut architecture and later Indian structural temples and other buildings. In its original form, the arch is shaped like the cross-section of a barrel vault. It is called a chaitya arch when used on the facade of a chaitya hall, around the single large window. In later forms i

Vedic sacrificial altar

mosque and tomb complex in Ahmedabad, India

thumb|Brihadeeswarar Temple, [[Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.]]

finials of Hindu temples

mosque in Gujarat, India

thumb|right|500px|Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho, with 84 urushringa around the shikhara thumb|Detail of the same temple Urushringa (, ) is a subsidiary tower springing from the sides of the main shikhara tower in the Hindu temple architecture of northern India.

Hindu temple architecture

thumb|A 1792 painting of a Hindu temple and choultry (a travelers' rest house) Choultry is a resting place, an inn or caravansary for travelers, pilgrims or visitors to a site, typically linked to Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples. They are also referred to as .

processional idols in Hinduism

temple in India

Style of north Indian temple architecture

thumb|A pranala at the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur|Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur thumb|Another pranala at the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur In Hindu temple architecture, a pranala (IAST: praṇāla) is a discharge outlet attached to the wall of the sanctum. It discharges the lustral water or other liquids poured over the idols.

building in India

mosque in Ahmedabad, India

thumb|The jagamohana in front of the shikhara, Mukteshvara Temple, [[Bhuvaneswar|260x260px]] thumb|The jagamohana of the Konarka Sun Temple

architectural structure, usually found in Hindu temples, in the form of a column

A prakaram (प्राकारः in Sanskrit), also spelled pragaram or pragaaram) in Indian architecture is an outer part around the Hindu temple sanctum. They may be enclosed or open and are typically enclosed for the innermost prakaram. As per Hindu religious practices, devotees start to come around the outer prakarams to the inner most before entering the sanctum. thumb|Image of Prakaram in Mayuranathaswami Temple, Mayiladuthurai Most of the historic South Indian cities like Madurai, Srirangam, Sirkali, Thiruvarur and Chidambaram were built around large temples in the center of the city. The streets o