Urushringa
''Urushringa'' (Sanskrit: ''uruśṛn̍ga'' उरुशृङ्ग, lit. ''having high peak'') is a subsidiary tower springing from the sides of the main ''shikhara'' tower in the Hindu temple architecture of northern India. Overview The urushringa is smaller and narrower than the shikhara, and "engaged" or connected to it where they meet, except right at the top. It strengthens the feeling of height given by the temple, and may give some structural support by acting like a buttress, as well as adding to the visual symbolism of the temple as a sacred mountain. They often reflect the complex shape of the sanctuary structure at ground level, following the ''ratha'' projections up into the shikhara. The style of shikhara with urushringas is known as sekhari. Many of the temples in the famous Khajuraho Group of Monuments have sekhari towers, though others do not. On the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple there are 84 urushringas around the shikhara.Harle, 233-235; Michell, 121-123 T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Shikhara
''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India. In South India, the equivalent term is ''vimana''; unlike the ''shikhara'', this refers to the whole building, including the sanctum beneath. In the south, ''shikhara'' is a term for the top stage of the vimana only, which is usually a dome capped with a finial; this article is concerned with the northern form. The southern ''vimana'' is not to be confused with the elaborate gateway-towers of south Indian temples, called ''gopuram'', which are often taller and more prominent features in large temples. Forms ''Shikhara'' can be classified into three main forms: *''Latina''. The ''shikhara'' has four faces, which may include proj ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hindu Temple Architecture
Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of style, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the ''garbha griha'' or womb-chamber, where the primary ''Murti'' or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. This chamber often has an open area designed for movement in clockwise rotation for rituals and prayers. Around this chamber there are often other structures and buildings, in the largest cases covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like ''shikhara'', also called the ''vimana'' in the south. The shrine building often includes an circumambulatory passage for parikrama, a mandapa congregation hall, and sometimes an antarala antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. There may be other mandapas or other buildings, connected or detached, in large temples, together with other small temples in the compound. Hindu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sekhari (architecture)
''Sekhari'' or ''Shekhari'' is a type of northern Indian ''shikhara'' (tower or spire on top of a shrine) which comprises a central ''Latina'' spire with ''urushringa ''Urushringa'' (Sanskrit: ''uruśṛn̍ga'' उरुशृङ्ग, lit. ''having high peak'') is a subsidiary tower springing from the sides of the main ''shikhara'' tower in the Hindu temple architecture of northern India. Overview The urus ...'' half spires added on all sides.Tadgell, 342-343 It is a one of two sub-types of ''shikhara'', the other being '' bhumija''. Notes References *Tadgell, Chistopher, ''The East: Buddhists, Hindus and the Sons of Heaven'', 2015, Routledge, , 9781136753831google books {{Architecture of India Hindu temple architecture ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Architecture Of The Khajuraho Temples
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes ; ; . Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements. The practice, which began in the prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture for civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theories is the 1st century AD treatise ''De architectura'' by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good building embodies , and (durability, utility, and beauty). Centu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (sideways) forces arising out of inadequately braced roof structures. The term ''counterfort'' can be synonymous with buttress and is often used when referring to dams, retaining walls and other structures holding back earth. Early examples of buttresses are found on the Eanna Temple (ancient Uruk), dating to as early as the 4th millennium BC. Terminology In addition to flying and ordinary buttresses, brick and masonry buttresses that support wall corners can be classified according to their ground plan. A clasping or clamped buttress has an L shaped ground plan surrounding the corner, an angled buttress has two buttresses meeting at the corner, a setback buttress is similar to an angled buttress but the buttresses are set back from the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ratha (architecture)
In Hindu temple architecture, a ''ratha'' is a facet or vertical offset projection on the plan of a structure, in particular of the ''shikhara'' above the sanctum. The term has the same meaning when applied to the forms of the bases of statues. A ''ratha'' is generally carried up from the bottom of the temple to the superstructure. The corners of each ratha touch notional circles on the plan of the temple, centred on the murti or cult image inside the sanctum. The sides are oriented along the main horizontal axis of the temple (normally running east–west) or at right angles to it, generating (except around the entrance to the sanctum) a multi-faceted plan that harmonizes the square and the circle, becoming more circular in overall shape as the number of rathas increases. The rathas (facets) may be decorated with geometric figures or statues, such as statues of a gatekeeper watching outside or a niche with a statue of a deity. Sometimes, the facet of the ratha is hollowed to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Khajuraho Group Of Monuments
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments are a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and a few erotic sculptures. Most Khajuraho temples were built between 885 AD and 1000 AD by the Chandela dynasty. Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by the 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 25 temples have survived, spread over six square kilometers.Khajuraho Group of Monuments UNESCO World Heritage Site Of the surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (Devanagari: कंदारिया महादेव मंदिर, Mandir), meaning "the Great God of the Cave", is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is considered one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India. Location Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is located in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. It is in the Khajuraho village, and the temple complex is spread over an area of . It is in the western part of the village to the west of the Vishnu temple. The temple complex, in the Khajuraho village at an elevation of , is well connected by road, rail and air services. Khajuraho is to the south of Mahoba, away from the Chhatarpur city to its east, away from Panna, Madhya Pradesh, Panna, by road away from Jhansi on the north, and to the south - east of Delhi. It is from the railway station. Khajuraho i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Amalaka
An amalaka ( sa, आमलक), 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 name and, according to some sources the shape, of the amalaka comes from the fruit of Phyllanthus emblica (or Mirobalanus embilica), the Indian gooseberry, or myrobolan fig tree. This is called ''āmalaki'' in Sanskrit, and the fruit has a slightly segmented shape, though this is much less marked than in the architectural shape. The amalaka itself is crowned with a kalasam or finial, from which a temple banner is often hung. History The shape first appears (or survives) as an element in the capitals of columns around the time of Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, recurring in some capitals of the 1st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |