The Textbook of Architecture

Glossary · V

Vimana

Also called vimanas, vimāna

In South India, the shrine and its pyramidal tower of storeys as a whole; in the treatises, any shrine building.

See also: Tala, Gopuram

Rules that use the word

Storeys of miniature shrines. Raise the vimana in receding storeys (talas), and edge each with a parapet (hara) of miniature shrines: square domed kutas at the corners, oblong barrel-roofed shalas in the middle, and small panjaras between.

Where it appears in the book

In the chapters South and Southeast Asia.

A feature of Hindu Temple: Dravida (South Indian) architecture.

Nearby in the glossary

Vedika · Veranda · Vihara · Villa · Volute · Voussoir · Wall rib · Wardian case