Here’s our short glossary of terms used in the Architecture of Buddhism, particularly focusing on Southeast Asia for now (because SE Asia is the focus of The Golden Lands book which also contains an extensive glossary).
- Aedicule
Ornamental pilastered niche to house a sacred image - Aisle
Side passage running parallel to the nave of a temple and separated from it by columns - Anda
Burial mound at the centre of a stupa, usually in the form of a solid dome or generally bell-shaped - Apadana
Columned hypostyle hall, usually square in plan, with a portico to one or more sides - Apse
Semi circular domed or vaulted space, especially at one end of a basilica space - Apsidal
In the shape of an apse - Arca-griha
Image-chamber in a Buddhist shrine - Bot
Another word for Ubosot, the ordination hall in a Buddhist temple - Byauk
In Myanmar, a temple with a colourfully painted interior - Candi
Indo-Indonesian royal sepulchre and generally equivalent of “Stupa”; used generally to refer to any ancient Hindu or Buddhist temple or shrine in Indonesia (and sometimes non-religious structures too) - Candi bentar
(Indonesian) Roofless gateway, usually to an East Javanese or Balinese temple - Cella
The sanctuary of a temple, usually containing the cult statue - Chadya
Awning, eave - Chaitya / Caitya
Generally any sacred space, but usually means a shrine or prayer hall which has a stupa at one end - Chaitya-griha
A temple assembly hall that houses a stupa - Chankama / Chankyama
A promenade for walking meditation - Chatravali / Chattravali / Chhatraveli
Tiers (disks) forming the chattri on top of a stupa – above the dome (anda) leading up to the railing/platform (harmika) - Chattri
An umbrella-shaped dome or pavilion, sometimes acting as a turret on the roof of a stupa - Chaturmukha
A four-sided temple - Chedi
Thai term essentially equivalent to stupa - Chofa
Ornamentation on the top/end of a roof of a temple, often in the shape of a mythical creature, or bird or fish - Chorten
Tibetan term for a stupa - Clerestory
A windowed upper level, providing light for a double-storey interior - Crepidoma
Steps forming the platform of a temple - Dagoba
The Sinhalese (i.e. Sri Lanka) word for Stupa - Dhamma-yon / Dhammasala
The hall in a temple where the Dhamma (i.e. Buddhist teaching, lit. “doctrine”) is preached - Finial
The object or decoration marking the top of something (like the top of a dome or tower) or the end of something like a roof edge or gable - Gandhakuti
Literally a “perfumed chamber” – used to mean shrines placed around a stupa - Gu
A cave, at Bagan in Myanmar used by extension to mean any temple that has an interior you can enter - Harmika
Square railings at the top of a stupa, betewen the anda and the chattravali, which originally represented a platform/ enclosure with a fence. - Ho Rakang / Hor Rakang
The bell tower in a Thai temple - Ho Trai
In a Thai temple, the library or scriptures depository - Hti
A sacred parasol on the upper part of a finial (qv) - Image Hall
In a Buddhist monastery, the image hall is the one which contains the (main) statue of the Buddha - Iwan
Vaulted hall with a roof supported by numerous columns more or less evenly spaced across its area - Jali
Lattice of filigree patterned screen - Kraton
Court of early Indonesian rulers, a term for a palace in Indonesia - Kutagara
Pavilion on the terrace of a palace - Mahal
Summer-house or pavilion - Mandapa
Sanskrit word for a pillared outdoor hall or pavilion for public rituals; in Hindu temples the mandapa is often a porch-like structure leading into the temple - Medhi
Drum forming the base of a stupa - Mondop
(Thai) A free-standing square or cruciform building within a Thai temple complex, used to house relics, scriptures, or act as a shrine; the word is related to Mandapa, qv - Mulaprasada
Main block of a temple, containing a shrine - Pagoda
East Asian term for Stupa, often more likely to be used in the case of multi-tiered towers, but not necessarily; (NB In Vietnam and Cambodia, due to French translation, the English term pagoda is a more generic term referring to a place of worship, although pagoda is not an accurate word to describe a Buddhist vihara. ) - Paya / Hpaya
Burmese word for pagoda, literally meaning “lord”, hence often found in famous place names, e.g. Shwedigon Paya, and within names of pagodas, e.g. Bupaya Pagoda - Phamsana
Stepped pyramidal type of roof with rectilinear profile - Pradakshina-patha
Circumambulatory path or passage around a shrine - Prasada
Multi-storey structure - Prasada-vimana
Palace in a sacred environment - Sala
An open pavilion used as a meeting place or shelter, usually a term used for these structures in Thai temples although also used for roadside pavilions - Sala Kan Prian
A large hall where lay people can hear sermons in a Thai temple - Samvarana
Pyramidical hall roof with tiers of bell-shaped mouldings - Sangharama
Abode of a Buddhist order, i.e. a monastery - Sanghawat
The living quarters of monks in a Thai temple compound - Serdab
Subterranean room - Stambha
Pillar or post - Stupa
Originally a pre-Buddhist burial mound; this word is now used for the pre-eminent type of Buddhist monument, which is at least a freestanding mound, usually with a circular drum (medhi) forming the base for a massive solid dome (anda) topped by a turret (chattri); the bell or dome shaped mound covers the relics or holy objects; as the stupa architecturally becomes more complicated, so the word “Stupa” is applied in general to monuments and whole temples, interchangable in referring to many sites with words such as Pagoda, Wat, Candi - Tahoto
Many-jewelled pagoda, Japanese variant of pagoda with a stupa emerging from the roof - Torana
Ceremonial gateways in the fence surrounding a stupa, of which there are usually four, often richly decorated - Ubosot
(Thai) Ordination hall of a Thai Temple, also known as Bot - Vastushastra / Vastu Shatra
Traditional Indian doctrines of architecture and town planning in wide cirulation by the 6th century AD – “vastu sastras” refer to any ancient Sanskrit manuals in these topics - Vedika
Railing, especially of a sacred enclosure - Verandah
Roofed colonnade attached to one or more sides of a building - Vihara
Residential quarters of a Buddhist monastery, or by extension a monastery generally - Vimana
Storeyed building with receding terraces, used in the south as main element of sanctuaery, equivalent to northern Mulaprasada - Wat / Vat
Buddhist temple or monastery particularly in Thailand, usually including buildings open to (and for the use of) lay people - Zedi / Zeidi
A Burmese term for a stupa
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Recommended more broad glossary: Art-and-Archaeology Asian Art Glossary