Digitalvivek at 02:46, 12 July 2025

2025-07-12T02:46:02Z

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{{short description|Stone disk on the top of a Hindu temple's main tower}}
[[File:Khajuraho Devi Jagadambi Temple 2010 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Double amalaka at the top of the [[Devi Jagadambi Temple]] at [[Khajuraho]]]]
[[File:Bhubneshwar Siddheshwar Mukteshwar Group Temple.jpg|thumb|Prominent amalakas at the Siddheshwar Mukteshwar Group Temple, [[Bhubaneswar]]]]
An '''amalaka''' ({{langx|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/picturepages/Khajuraho/architecture.html#Amalaka |title=Khajuraho Architecture |publisher=Personal.carthage.edu |date=2006-01-12 |accessdate=2012-08-09 |archive-date=2016-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302071937/http://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/picturepages/Khajuraho/architecture.html#Amalaka |url-status=dead }}; Kramrisch, 348-356</ref>

The name and, according to some sources the shape, of the amalaka comes from the fruit of ''[[Phyllanthus emblica]]'' (or ''Mirobalanus embilica''),<ref>Harle, 54; Kramrisch, 356</ref> 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.<ref>Kramrisch, 354-355</ref>

The amalaka itself is crowned with a [[kalasam]] or finial,<ref>Kramrisch, 350, 355</ref> from which a temple banner is often hung.

==History==
[[File:Door Desavatara Deogarh.jpg|thumb|Door jab with amalaka, above a [[gavaksha]], [[Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh]] ]]
The shape first appears (or survives) as an element in the capitals of columns around the time of [[Ashoka]] in the 3rd century BCE,<ref>Harle, 54</ref> recurring in some capitals of the 1st century CE. In some of these, as at the Great Chaitya at the [[Karla Caves]], and the [[verandah]]s to Caves 3, 10 and 17 at the [[Pandavleni Caves]], the amalaka is "boxed" with a rectangular framework cage.<ref>Harle, 54-55; Kramrisch, 352-353</ref>

The oldest representation of an Amalaka as the base for the kalasha is seen in a door jamb at the [[Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh|Dahshavatara temple]] at [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh|Deogarh]], dated to about 500 AD.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3250039?seq=26#metadata_info_tab_contents Prāsāda as Palace: Kūṭina Origins of the Nāgara Temple, Michael W. Meister, Artibus Asiae, Vol. 49, No. 3/4 (1988 - 1989), pp. 254-280]</ref> Amalakas appear to have been common at the top of shikhara by the [[Gupta period]], though no originals remain in place. They were to remain standard in most of India, in the Nagara and [[Kalinga architecture]] styles of the west and east respectively, but not in the [[Dravidian architecture]] of [[South India]].<ref>Harle, 111, 140, 166; Kramrisch, 348, 352</ref> Some early temples in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]], such as the 7th-century Lakshamana temple in brick at [[Sirpur Group of Monuments|Sirpur]], have amalakas at the corners of some level of the shikhara (but not, as it survives, at the top in the usual way).<ref>Harle, 166</ref>

==Symbolism==
Like other parts of [[Hindu temple architecture]], there is a large body of symbolic and mystical interpretation around the amalaka. It is seen as a ring gripping and embracing a notional pillar that rises from the main [[cult image]] of the deity below it in the sanctum, and reaches up to heaven through the top of the temple.<ref>Kramrisch, 348-356. Only a small part of this is summarized here.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:A sculptured stone in Durga Temple Complex.jpg|Detached amalaka stone of the [[Durga Temple, Aihole]], 7th century
File:054 Cave 17, Pillars and Inscription (33811675492).jpg|"Boxed" amalakas in the capitals outside Cave 17, [[Pandavleni Caves]], 2nd-3rd century CE
File:014 Columns and Capitals (32849694414).jpg|"Boxed" amalakas in the capitals, [[Bedse Caves]]
File:Laxman Temple1 (cropped).JPG|Corner amalakas at the 7th-century Lakshamana temple in brick at [[Sirpur Group of Monuments|Sirpur]]
File:Image ank.JPG|7-12th century temples at [[Jageshwar]], [[Uttarakhand]]. In some of them the amalakas are boxed to hold a roof.
File:8th century Galaganatha temple, Pattadakal monuments Karnataka 5 (cropped).jpg|Early, rounded, amalaka, with squared amalakas at the corners below, 8th century. Galaganatha Temple, [[Pattadakal]], [[Karnataka]]
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}
*[[Stella Kramrisch|Kramrisch, Stella]], ''The Hindu Temple'', Volume 2, 1996 (originally 1946), {{ISBN|8120802225}}, 9788120802223, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8-aS52MgIkMC google books]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/picturepages/Khajuraho/architecture.html Khajuraho Architecture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302071937/http://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/picturepages/Khajuraho/architecture.html |date=2016-03-02 }}

[[Category:Hindu temple architecture]]
[[Category:Architectural elements]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in India]]
[[Category:Hindi words and phrases]]

Amalaka - Revision history

Digitalvivek at 02:46, 12 July 2025