AP Art History Unit 4 Faith - Indian and Southeast Asian Art Vocabulary

Darshan

in Hinduism, the ability of a worshipper to see a deity and the deity to see the worshipper

Mudra

a symbolic hand gesture in Hindu and Buddhist art

Shikara

a bee-hive shaped tower on a Hindu temple

Ushnisha

a protrusion at the top of the head, or the top knot of a Buddha

Ashlar masonry

carefully cut and grooved stones that support a building without the use of concrete or other kinds of masonry

Bas-relief

a very shallow relief sculpture

Bodhisattva

a deity who refrains from entering nirvana to help others

Buddha

a fully enlightened being. There are many Buddhas, the most famous of whom is Sakyamuni, also known as Gautama or Siddhartha

Cella

the main room of a temple, where the god is housed

Garbha griha

a "womb chamber," the inner room in a Hindu temple that houses the god's image

Horror vacui (Latin, meaning "fear of empty spaces")

a type of artwork in which the entire surface is filled with objects, people, designs, and ornaments in a crowded and sometimes congested way

Hypostyle

a hall with a roof supported by a dense thicket of columns

Iconoclasm

the destruction of religious images that are seen as heresy

Mandorla (Italian, meaning "almond")

an almond-shaped circle of light around the figure of Christ or Buddha

Mithuna

in India, the mating of males and females in a ritualistic, symbolic or physical sense

Puja

a Hindu prayer ritual

Sakyamuni (shakyamuni)

the historical Buddha, named after the town of Sakya, Buddha's birthplace (actual historical figure)

Shiva

the Hindu god of creation and destruction

Stupa

a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine

Torana

a gateway near a stupa that has two upright posts and three horizontal lintels. They are usually elaborately carved

Urna

a circle of hair on the brows of a deity, sometimes represented as a focal point

Vairocana

the universal Buddha, a source of enlightenment; also known as the Supreme Buddha who represents "emptiness," that is, freedom from earthly matters to help achieve salvation (not the historical iteration, otherwise known as the Sakyamuni Buddha; Mahayana Buddhist ideals)

Vishnu

the Hindu god worshipped as the protector and preserver of the world

Wat

a Buddhist monastery or temple in Cambodia

Yakshi (masculine: yaksha)

female and male figures of fertility in Buddhist and Hindu art