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APAH Vocabulary Ch. 6
vocabulary for buddhist and hindu areas up to 1300 AD
44
Art History
Undergraduate 1
03/31/2011

Additional Art History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Amalaka
Definition
In Hindu temple design, the large flat disk with ribbed edges surmounting the beehive-shaped tower
Term
Arch
Definition
A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that transmit the downward pressure laterally.See also thrust.
Term
Asceticism
Definition
Self-discipline and self-denial.
Term
Avatar
Definition
A manifestation of a deity incarnated in some visible form in which the deity performs a sacred function on earth. In Hinduism, an incarnation of a god.
Term
Barays
Definition
The large reservoirs laid out around Cambodian wats that served as means of transportation as well as irrigation. The reservoirs were connected by a network of canals.
Term

Bodhisattva

 

Definition
In Buddhist thought, one of the host of divinities provided to the Buddha to help him save humanity. A potential Buddha.
Term
Canon
Definition
A rule, for example, of proportion. The ancient Greeks considered beauty to be a matter of “correct” proportion and sought a canon of proportion, for the human figure and for buildings.
Term
Chaitya Hall
Definition
An Indian rockcut temple hall having a votive stupa at one end.
Term
Chakra
Definition
The Buddha’s wheel, set in motion at Sarnath.
Term
Chakravartin
Definition
In India, the ideal king, the Universal Lord who ruled through goodness
Term
Chatra
Definition
stone disks adorning Buddhist architecture.
Term
Circumambulation
Definition
In Buddhist worship, walking around the stupa in a clockwise direction
Term
Darshan
Definition
In Hindu worship, seeing images of the divinity and being seen by the divinity.
Term
Dharma
Definition
In Buddhism, moral law based on the Buddha’s teaching.
Term

Facade

 

Definition
Usually, the front of a building; also, the other sides when they are emphasized architecturally.
Term
Garbha Griha
Definition
Hindi, “womb chamber.” In Hindu temples, the cella, the holy inner sanctum, for the cult image or symbol.
Term
Harmika
Definition
In Buddhist architecture, a stone fence or railing that encloses an area surmounting the dome of a stupa that represents one of the Buddhist heavens; from the center arises the yasti.
Term
Iconography
Definition
Greek, the “writing of images.” The term refers both to the content, or subject, of an artwork and to the study of content in art. It also includes the study of the symbolic, often religious, meaning of objects, persons, or events depicted in works of art.
Term
Jataka
Definition
Tales of the past lives of the Buddha. See also sutra
Term
Karma
Definition
In Vedic religions, the ethical consequences of a person’s life, which determine his or her fate
Term

Lakshana(s)

 

Definition
Distinguishing marks of the Buddha. They include the urna and ushnisha.
Term

lalitasana

 

Definition
In Buddhist iconography, the body pose with one leg folded and the other hanging down, indicating relaxation
Term
Linga
Definition
In Hindu art, the depiction of Shiva as a phallus or cosmic pillar.
Term
  Mandala
Definition
Sacred diagram of the universe.
Term
Mandapa
Definition
Pillared hall of a Hindu temple
Term

Moksha/Nirvana

 

Definition
In Buddhism and Hinduism, a blissful state brought about by absorption of the individual soul or consciousness into the supreme spirit
Term

Parapet

 

Definition
A low, protective wall along the edge of a balcony or roof.
Term
Parinirvana
Definition
Image of the reclining Buddha, often viewed as representing his death.
Term
Plinth
Definition
The square slab at the base of a column.
Term
Prasada
Definition
In Hindu worship, food that becomes sacred by first being given to a god.
Term
Ratha
Definition
Small, freestanding Hindu temple carved from a huge boulder.
Term
Samsara
Definition
In Hindu belief, the rebirth of the soul into a succession of lives.
Term
Shikara
Definition
The beehive-shaped tower of a Hindu temple.
Term
Stupa
Definition
A large, mound-shaped Buddhist shrine
Term

Torana

 

Definition
Gateway in the stone fence around a stupa, located at the cardinal points of the compass.
Term
Trefoil
Definition
A cloverlike ornament or symbol with stylized leaves in groups of three
Term
Ushnisha
Definition
A knot of hair on the top of the head; one of the lakshanas of the Buddha.
Term

Veda

 

Definition
Sanskrit, “knowledge.”
Term
Vihara
Definition

A Buddhist monastery, often cut into a hill.

 

Term
Vimana
Definition
A pyramidal tower over the garbha griha of a Hindu temple of the southern, or Dravida, style.
Term

Wat

 

Definition
A Buddhist monastery in Cambodia.
Term
Yaksha/Yakshi
Definition
Lesser local male and female Buddhist and Hindu divinities. Yakshis are goddesses associated with fertility and vegetation. Yakshas, the male equivalent of yakshis, are often represented as corpulent, powerful males.
Term
Yasti
Definition
In Buddhist architecture, the mast or pole that arises from the dome of the stupa and its harmika and symbolizes the axis of the universe; it is adorned with a series of chatras (stone disks).
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