In architecture, a wide slab at the top of a load-bearing column, forming the uppermost section of the capital and helping transfer the weight of the supported beam or arch to the column’s shaft. In freestanding columns the abacus may be mounted with decorative or emblematic sculptures. From the Ancient Greek ábax, meaning ‘slab’.
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In Indian temple architecture, it refers to the vertical sidepieces of a door frame or an entrance frame, or the…
Horizontal band running along the exterior surface of a building or a boundary wall, serving aesthetic and sometimes functional purposes.…
Meaning ‘gateway’ or ‘arched entrance’ in Sanskrit and Pali, torana refers to a free-standing gateway marking the entrance to a Buddhist shrine or…
A Persian term for private quarters in a house reserved exclusively for women. Originally an extension of the Islamic concept…
Meaning ‘heap’ in Sanskrit, stupa refers to a Buddhist structure usually housing buried remains of a deified figure or other sacred relics.…
A tier or storey in a shikhara, vimana or gopuram, found primarily in Dravida temple architecture.
A pillared pavilion or hall found in Dravida temples. Typically the largest mandapa (pavilion) of the temple, the mahamandapa serves…
An architectural or design element consisting of two scroll-shaped ornamental figures mounted on pillar capitals. The curving shape is believed…