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| In Hindu temple design, the large flat disk with ribbed edges surmounting the beehive-shaped tower. |
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| 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. |
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| Self-discipline and self-denial. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| In Buddhist thought, one of the host of divinities provided to the Buddha to help him save humanity. A potential Buddha. |
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| 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. |
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| An Indian rockcut temple hall having a votive stupa at one end. |
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| The Buddha’s wheel, set in motion at Sarnath. |
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| In India, the ideal king, the Universal Lord who ruled through goodness. |
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| In Buddhist worship, walking around the stupa in a clockwise direction. |
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| In Hindu worship, seeing images of the divinity and being seen by the divinity. |
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| In Buddhism, moral law based on the Buddha’s teaching. |
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| Usually, the front of a building; also, the other sides when they are emphasized architecturally. |
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| Hindi, “womb chamber.” In Hindu temples, the cella, the holy inner sanctum, for the cult image or symbol. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Tales of the past lives of the Buddha. See also sutra. |
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| In Vedic religions, the ethical consequences of a person’s life, which determine his or her fate. |
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| Distinguishing marks of the Buddha. They include the urna and ushnisha. |
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| In Buddhist iconography, the body pose with one leg folded and the other hanging down, indicating relaxation. |
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| In Hindu art, the depiction of Shiva as a phallus or cosmic pillar. |
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| Sacred diagram of the universe. |
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| Pillared hall of a Hindu temple. |
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| In Buddhist and Hindu iconography, a stylized and symbolic hand gesture. |
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| A halo or aureole appearing around the head of a holy figure to signify divinity. |
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| In Buddhism and Hinduism, a blissful state brought about by absorption of the individual soul or consciousness into the supreme spirit. Also called moksha. |
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| A low, protective wall along the edge of a balcony or roof. |
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| Image of the reclining Buddha, often viewed as representing his death. |
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| The square slab at the base of a column. |
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| In Hindu worship, food that becomes sacred by first being given to a god. |
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| Small, freestanding Hindu temple carved from a huge boulder. |
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| In Hindu belief, the rebirth of the soul into a succession of lives. |
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| The beehive-shaped tower of a Hindu temple. |
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| A large, mound-shaped Buddhist shrine. |
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| Gateway in the stone fence around a stupa, located at the cardinal points of the compass. |
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| A cloverlike ornament or symbol with stylized leaves in groups of three. |
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| A knot of hair on the top of the head; one of the lakshanas of the Buddha. |
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| A Buddhist monastery, often cut into a hill. |
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| A pyramidal tower over the garbha griha of a Hindu temple of the southern, or Dravida, style. |
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| A Buddhist monastery in Cambodia. |
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| 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. |
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| 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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